A Swiss court has reduced the three-year prison sentence given to Chechen businessman Bulat Chagaev, former owner of Swiss football club FC Neuchâtel Xamax, by six months.
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Neuchâtel cantonal court on Thursday sentenced Chagaev to 30 months in prison, 12 months of which are unconditional, for faulty and negligent management.
Chagaev bought the club in May 2011, taking over from previous president Sylvio Bernasconi; just eight months later, however, Xamax was declared bankrupt, thereby losing its licence to play in the Swiss Super League and leaving an unpaid debt pile of CHF23 million ($26 million).
Following several years of investigations into the club’s collapse, Chagaev (who had also been provisionally arrested at the time) was found guilty in 2016 by a Neuchâtel court of criminal mismanagement, embezzlement of tax money, attempted fraud, and falsifying documents.
However, the Federal Court overturned this verdict in January 2019, accepting in part Chagaev’s appeal. The judges in Lausanne ruled that the Neuchâtel judiciary should have provided the detailed figures on the club’s debt.
The businessman, who holds a Russian passport, had to leave Switzerland in August 2013 on the instructions of canton Vaud.
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A Neuchâtel court has confirmed the jail term for fraud and other charges handed down to Bulat Chagaev, the former owner of FC Neuchâtel Xamax.
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Bulat Chagaev was detained by authorities in Geneva, who had been investigating him for suspected fraud, for “financial mismanagement”. Hours earlier, Xamax said they would file for bankruptcy, then were formally declared bankrupt by a court in canton Neuchâtel. The two-time Swiss champion will drop out of the Swiss Super League midseason. Xamax’s season of…
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Bulat Chagaev, the former owner of Swiss football club FC Neuchâtel Xamax, has been given a jail term for fraud and other charges.
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