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Zurich prosecutors open probe into Raiffeisen Switzerland ex-CEO

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Zurich prosecutors open probe into Raiffeisen Switzerland ex-CEO

Zurich prosecutors have launched an investigation into former Raiffeisen Gruppe Switzerland CEO Pierin Vincenz over potential breach of trust linked to payments firm Aduno Holding AG and private equity firm Investnet AG, Reuters reported Feb. 28.

Prosecutors said they were investigating a former chairman and a former board member at Aduno, as well as three of its business associates, and had conducted searches at homes and offices relating to the probe. Vincenz had been the only chairman of Aduno before he stepped down in 2017, the newswire noted.

In a Feb. 28 statement, Raiffeisen said it has also joined the investigation as a private complainant and will lodge a criminal complaint against Vincenz and other individuals that may be involved in the matter, finews.com reported the same day.

Meanwhile, Aduno said it had filed a complaint against Vincenz, and that it had notified authorities in December 2017 that it suspected Vincenz and an unnamed individual of acting in bad faith, finews.com wrote in a separate report.

Vincenz has been dogged by suspicions of conflict of interest during his tenure at Raiffeisen. The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority, or FINMA, had launched enforcement proceedings against Vincenz but later dropped the investigation in December 2017 after he resigned from executive management positions at financial institutions supervised by the regulator.

Raiffeisen Schweiz Genossenschaft recently sold its majority stake in Investnet to the private equity firm's minority shareholders, a deal prompted by FINMA's ongoing investigation into alleged misconduct on the board of the Swiss cooperative banks group, which stemmed from the probe against Vincenz, who also holds a stake in Investnet.