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Now the five cases are known, which are the charges against Raiffeisen’s former boss and his partner. Attention is also focused on the three cases that have so far received the least attention.
From the era of former Raiffeisen boss Pierin Vincenz, new details keep coming to the public.
On Tuesday, the Zurich prosecutor’s office also brought charges against Geneva-based real estate entrepreneur and art collector Stéphane Barbier-Mueller in the Pierin Vincenz case. You will have to defend yourself in court for aiding and inciting fraud and unfaithful business management. It is said that he helped the two main defendants, Raiffeisen’s former boss and Aduno president, Vincenz, and Aduno’s former boss and board member, Beat Stocker, to secretly benefit from a settlement with Raiffeisen’s credit company. Geneva Genève Credit & Leasing (GCL). The presumption of innocence applies to all parties involved.
The “nobleman” on the peasant bank
Barbier-Mueller comes from a well-known Geneva family that is among the wealthy in the city. He has made a name for himself as a collector of art and gold coins and, together with his brothers, runs his own museum in Geneva’s Old Town featuring family-owned ethnographic works of art. How does a wealthy Geneva man with “the airs and language of a French nobleman”, according to one interviewee, get into the positions surrounding the former director of the former Raiffeisen agricultural bank?
First, the “Handelszeitung” shed light on the GCL deal. The process can now be rebuilt on the basis of more discussions: Ten years ago, Aduno was looking for growth opportunities in western Switzerland and met GCL, which has been in the private credit and leasing business since 2004. In 2010, French BNP Paribas is the majority shareholder with 51%, President Barbier-Mueller has 45%, small shareholders have the rest, business does not seem to be going well and BNP is said to have little strategic interest in the credit business Swiss consumption; the bank wanted out. As of the fall of 2010, the other GCL shareholders are looking for banks that can roll over the loan agreements and possibly take over the shares of the French.
At the end of 2011, after some exchanges, GCL agreed an exclusive partnership with Aduno’s subsidiary, Cashgate: among other things, Cashgate paid GCL 9 million francs and took over the data of its customers, employees and, for two years then all the remaining loans.
Also important is the refinancing of GCL’s portfolio of almost CHF 167 million, which will be organized from 2012 to 2014 through a loan from Raiffeisen to Aduno. Vincenz referred Stocker to the boss of his corporate client Hans Albrecht. Stocker first suggests a personal meeting with Barbier-Mueller to Albrecht, which a team member explains at the time for corporate banking loan applications. Albrecht declined to comment. The two gentlemen are reportedly dining at the Zurich Hotel Schweizerhof. “The next day, however, Albrecht asks for GCL’s numbers and books,” said the team member. Beat Stocker offers this.
Credit raises internal questions
As a result, the Albrecht people carefully examine the documents; The entire team considers the loan process relatively risky. Because Raiffeisen could not fully verify the value of GCL’s lease loans to its clients, the argument continues.
But Chief Albrecht will probably find the deal interesting and the risk not so high, as Aduno’s chairman Vincenz, who wants the deal, gives him an indirect guarantee. As a result, a corresponding risk-appropriate surcharge is charged to the loan. The loan application is then submitted to the Raiffeisen Credit Board. According to the team member, this is also partly against granting the loan due to the relatively high risks.
Through the influence of Vincenz, who was not on the credit board, on certain board members, the team member claims that he granted the credit. Finally, the Raiffeisen management gave its blessing, but according to the interviewee, “they never turned against the decisions of the Credit Council experts.” Therefore, the loan is granted to GCL through Aduno with a risk premium. Apparently no one objects to the borrower. As a result, the loan is repaid on time.
It remains to be seen when and how exactly Stocker and Vincenz participated in the GCL and benefited from the deal. According to the finance blog “Inside Paradeplatz,” a low six-figure sum that flowed from Barbier-Mueller’s real estate company, Pilet & Renaud, to Beat Stocker, drew investigators’ attention to the Geneva case.
The negotiator was not interested in any details.
Also part of the indictment are the circumstances surrounding Aduno’s purchase of the deposit in euros. This was in 2014 for 5.6 million CHF. The deposit in euros offered credit card owners the option of guaranteeing a rental deposit on favorable terms using their card. With the purchase, Aduno gained access to the client base of the euro deposit, which at the time comprised around 30,000 clients and a gross premium volume of 12 million Swiss francs. That was clearly cheaper than if Aduno had to run the business himself, apparently that was the argument.
Between 2011 and 2014, Ferdinand Locher was the majority shareholder of the euro deposit through his Luxembourg investment firm Great Star Finance. The prosecution accuses Stocker and Vincenz of using Locher’s help to hide the company ReImagine! AG participated in the euro deposit and benefited from the subsequent sale to Aduno. The company ReImagine! it had grown out of the iFinance trust company. Vincenz and Stocker are known to have covertly participated in the Commtrain since 2005 through this company.
What exactly happened when he took over the euro deposit is controversial. The indictment assumes a 25% fiduciary stake through Great Star Finance, which is made possible by payments from ReImagine! to Great Star Finance in the amount of about 900,000 Swiss francs. There are apparently two different action books, one of which is ReImagine! named as a shareholder, not the other.
Locher is a negotiator, explains a person who knows Locher, is buying a company and wants to sell it again for a profit. In the end, Locher probably didn’t care if Vincenz or Stocker had gotten rich in private. That was not his responsibility, and he also assumed that the two of them had revealed their interests. The Locher himself took no position.
There is also apparently a cross-connection to the GCL case, as a well-informed source says: Barbier-Mueller acquired 10% of the deposit in euros in 2013 and sold this part to Aduno in 2014 for a similar price. In the case of the euro bond, the prosecution accuses him of actively helping to bribe Stocker by Locher.
Stéphane Barbier-Mueller vehemently rejects the prosecutor’s accusations, his spokesman announced. During his 40 years of professional activity, he has always acted honestly and professionally and has always behaved correctly and in accordance with the law. Additionally, Barbier-Mueller does not comment on the individual allegations.
A football stadium for Raiffeisen?
The fifth and last case is already known, on which the judges must decide in addition to the GCL, Euro bail, Investnet and Commtrain mentioned. This is the case of Arena Thun, once again Locher, Stocker and Vincenz get involved. That released “Inside Paradeplatz.”
The Arena Thun cooperative owns the Stockhorn Arena, the football stadium of the Challenge League club FC Thun. Apparently, Locher, like one of the many members of the cooperative, had a stake in the stadium, but by no means had a majority stake, explains a person familiar with the circumstances. The stadium did not return as expected and Locher is said to have started looking for a buyer.
In late July 2014, Locher, Stocker, and Vincenz apparently met for lunch in Lugano. A possible sale of the stadium to the Raiffeisen Group was also discussed. Vincenz apparently liked the idea and the three found a reasonable asking price of 22 million Swiss francs. According to the prosecution, it was apparently also agreed that Vincenz, as a broker, should receive a fee of 2 million Swiss francs after the successful sale. Stocker, on the other hand, has explicitly given up a profit share. In the end, however, the deal fell through. Why is not entirely clear. Locher probably couldn’t decide on a sale on his own. Apparently, Stocker Locher announced Raiffeisen’s “No” to the purchase on January 29, 2015 via email. On January 30, Vincenz announced his resignation as director of Raiffeisen.
The court files criminal charges against unknown persons
amu The Zurich District Court announced on Friday that it had filed a complaint against unknown persons in the Raiffeisen case. There were indications that the duty of confidentiality had been violated.
Since the accusation, which is still under lock and key, the information has reached the media on several occasions during the past week, although the prosecutor has promised all parties to keep it secret. The court advises all parties that information in the investigation files and the files themselves should not be transmitted.
The court now examines the files before inviting the parties to the main hearing. This will likely only take place in 2021, according to the announcement.
