Former Swiss banking lobby chief sentenced for bribery and money-laundering

Pierre Mirabaud, the former president of the Swiss Bankers Association, was convicted of bribery and aggravated money-laundering by the Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona. The court determined that he authorized SFr82.3 million in payments to Fahad Al-Rajaan, the former director-general of Kuwait’s Public Institution for Social Security, to secure the allocation of Kuwaiti state pension assets to his bank and its funds.

In addition, prosecutors proved that Mirabaud facilitated more than 122 transfers amounting to nearly SFr77 million to mask the illicit source of the money. The court handed down a two-year suspended prison sentence, ordered him to pay SFr82,000 in costs and placed him on a two-year probationary regime. Mirabaud, aged 77, had headed the Swiss banking lobby between 2003 and 2009 and served as a partner at the Geneva private bank for three decades before becoming a consultant. The case underscores ongoing scrutiny of Switzerland’s financial sector for corruption and money-laundering.