ZURICH (Reuters) -The Swiss Attorney General’s Office has handed a former wealth manager at Pictet Bank a six-month suspended prison sentence and fined the private bank for money laundering, the government said on Tuesday.
Pictet was sentenced to pay 2 million Swiss francs ($2.46 million) for failing to take all reasonable and necessary measures to prevent transfers from the account of a Brazilian public official aimed at concealing their criminal origin.
“We confirm that this matter, which involves several financial institutions, has been resolved for Pictet,” Pictet said in a statement.
“It represents neither an admission of guilt nor an acceptance of liability on the part of Pictet and is not related to its asset management, asset servicing or alternative assets entities,” the private bank added.
The payments were made between June 2010 and May 2013 from an account held in the name of an offshore firm whose beneficial owner was an employee of Brazilian state-run oil company Petrobras, the Swiss government said in a statement.
The former Pictet manager approved transfers to accounts in Switzerland and abroad totaling more than $4.1 million, the Swiss government said.
($1 = 0.8126 Swiss francs)
(Reporting by Ariane LuthiEditing by Dave Graham)
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