Geneva court to decide Borodin release on Thursday
A court in Geneva is to decide on Thursday whether a former Kremlin official, Pavel Borodin, who is in Swiss custody on suspicion of money laundering, should be released. Geneva's top prosecutor, Bernard Bertossa, opposed bail on Tuesday, asking the court to extend Borodin's detention for three months.
Bertossa cited formal charges of money laundering and belonging to a criminal organisation. However, Borodin’s main defence lawyer, Dominique Poncet, rejected the charges, and sought bail for his client.
Poncet did however admit that his client had opened accounts in Geneva.
The three-hour hearing on Tuesday followed Borodin’s transfer earlier in the day to a secure unit at Geneva’s cantonal hospital. After complaining of chest pains on Monday, the former Kremlin aide was admitted to the hospital’s intensive care unit on the orders of a prison doctor .
No details about his condition were released, but he was taken to hospital last month in New York with a similar complaint.
Borodin was indicted for money laundering on Saturday, after being extradited to Switzerland from the United States.
The former Kremlin aide was arrested on a Swiss warrant at New York’s Kennedy airport in January. Last week, he dropped his opposition to extradition to Switzerland, saying he wanted to clear his name of the corruption charges.
He stands accused of laundering $30 million in kickbacks from two Swiss companies – Mabetex and Mercata – in return for granting lucrative building contracts to renovate the Kremlin. He denies the charges.
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