This is what the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland is accusing the private bank Lombard Odier of

The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland has charged the private bank Lombard Odier and a former employee with serious money laundering. This in a transaction with the former president of Uzbekistan.

The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland has charged the private bank Lombard Odier and a former employee with serious money laundering.

It suspects the financial institution and its ex-employee of having played a decisive role in concealing the proceeds from the activities of the “Office” founded by Gulnara Karimova, which is classified as a criminal organization by the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG). This was announced by the judicial authority on Friday.

Between 2005 and 2012, the two allegedly laundered assets in Switzerland that originated from crimes committed by this criminal organization, whose top boss, according to the indictment by the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland, is Gulnara Karimova.

From at least 2001 to 2013, Karimova is alleged to have set up and led the criminal, hierarchically structured organization “Office”. The criminal network comprised several dozen people and around one hundred companies.

According to the findings of the Office of the Attorney General, the organization acted like a professional company. The players followed binding rules and a strict division of tasks. They resorted to violence and intimidation.

Corruption money laundered from Uzbekistan

Karimova and her accomplices enriched themselves in the telecommunications industry in Uzbekistan, which grew rapidly in the 2000s. Companies that wanted to enter the sector had to pay bribes to “Office” companies or to Karimova.

Karimova took advantage of her status as the daughter of then President Islam Karimov and as an Uzbek official. She had unlimited influence over the country’s officials. According to the indictment, the corruption money was distributed via complex organizations and ended up being transferred to “office” accounts, particularly in Switzerland.

The accused employee is alleged to have known that the money transferred to nine bank accounts originated from criminal activities of “Office”, in particular from acts of corruption in the Uzbek telecommunications sector.

Through his actions, this employee allegedly thwarted the investigation into the origin, tracing and confiscation of assets that he knew to have originated from criminal activities and was therefore guilty of serious money laundering.

The investigation confirms the suspicion that some of the money laundered in Switzerland was transferred via banking relationships at Banque Lombard Odier & Cie SA in Geneva, according to the statement.

Active contact with “Office”

The accused employee is said to have known Gulnara Karimova and several members of “Office” prior to his employment at Lombard Odier, in particular due to his role as a member of the investment committee of one of Gulnara Karimova’s funds. After joining the bank in 2008, he allegedly maintained active contact with members of “Office” and offered some of them cooperation.

Between August 2008 and August 2012, in his capacity as an asset manager at Lombard Odier, the accused is accused of opening or commissioning the opening of nine “Office” banking relationships that were intended to receive funds from crimes committed by this criminal organization.

He allegedly managed these banking relationships and failed to report within the bank that false beneficial owners had been named for these accounts, although he allegedly knew that the true and only beneficial owner of the funds was Gulnara Karimova.

Inadequate anti-money laundering measures at Lombard Odier

According to the indictment, Lombard Odier’s anti-money laundering program also showed numerous deficiencies from at least 2008 to 2012, with the repeated and persistent money laundering activities allegedly committed by the employee responsible for the nine “Office” banking relationships being neither prevented nor detected.

In this context, the bank allegedly failed to take all necessary and reasonable organizational measures to prevent the commission of serious money laundering acts within the bank. It is therefore being charged with serious money laundering and in connection with criminal liability of the company. The presumption of innocence applies until a final verdict is reached.

SDA