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The former head of a Swiss bank was sentenced yesterday to almost four years in prison for financial fraud, including spending on strip clubs with the company’s money.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The Zurich court was told that 65-year-old Pierin Vincenz, had used the company credit card to pay for strip clubs, new acquaintances, vacations and dinners with paid escorts.<\/p>\n
Public interest in the scandalous case was so great that developments shifted from a courtroom in Switzerland to a concert hall.<\/p>\n
Vincenz, former director of Raiffeisen Bank and his co-accused, said they would appeal the verdict.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors said Vincenz and his chief of staff, Beat Stocker, had filled their pockets by taking control of companies where they had secretly invested shares.<\/p>\n
Stocker was jailed for four years, while Vincenz, once crowned “Swiss Banker of the Year”, was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison.<\/p>\n
The judge ruled that Vincenz’s numerous visits to nude women’s clubs were not in the bank ‘s interest, according to Swiss media.<\/p>\n
His bills totaled 200,000 Swiss francs ($ 214,000) at strip clubs, which were placed at the company’s expense, Reuters reports.<\/p>\n
While a dinner that cost 700 francs with a girl he had known on the Tinder network, was described in expenses as a “job interview”.<\/p>\n
The BBC’s correspondent in Switzerland, Imogen Foulkes, said the case had damaged the Raiffeisen group – which now has about 200 branches in local communities. She says the name has already become for Swiss people a symbol of abuse and laziness with a ‘cowboy’ approach to money. \/ BBC \/<\/p>\n
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