Swiss Bank Pictet Fined $2.5M, Ex-Manager Sentenced for Laundering $4.1M

Switzerland’s Office of the Attorney General has fined Pictet Bank CHF 2 million ($2.4 million) for organizational failures that allowed money laundering linked to the Brazilian Petrobras corruption scandal, known as "Lava Jato." The investigation uncovered that over $4.1 million in corrupt payments were transferred from a Brazilian public official’s account at Pictet between 2010 and 2013 to conceal their criminal origin. A former relationship manager at Pictet, responsible for the Brazilian market since 2013, was sentenced to a six-month suspended prison term with a two-year probation for aggravated money laundering. The penalties reflect the bank’s failure to adequately classify high-risk accounts and properly monitor suspicious transfers, enabling the laundering activities. Pictet has stated that the resolution does not constitute an admission of guilt or liability and is unrelated to its core asset management businesses. Both the bank and the former manager have opted not to appeal the penalty.