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Swiss private bank Lombard Odier has been charged with aggravated money laundering by Switzerland’s federal prosecutor.
In charges filed on Friday, the prosecutor said Lombard Odier — one of the country’s most illustrious financial institutions — had for years played a “decisive role” in helping to conceal the criminal activities of Gulnara Karimova, daughter of the now-deceased president of Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov.
Karimova, who was herself charged in September 2023, embezzled billions and laundered the proceeds through an organisation dubbed “The Office” based in Switzerland, prosecutors believe. She has denied the charges.
A former employee of Lombard Odier has also been charged. Prosecutors have been investigating the affair since 2016. A spokesperson for the bank did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This is a developing story