Criminal case against Gulnara Karimova in Switzerland officially closed

Criminal case against Gulnara Karimova in Switzerland officially closed

A Swiss court has closed the criminal case against Gulnara Karimova. The court’s decision was based on the expiration of the statute of limitations and the lack of any prospect that Karimova would be extradited to Switzerland or released in the near future.

However, within the scope of this case, the Geneva-based private bank Lombard Odier was fined 3 million Swiss francs for failing to take adequate measures to prevent money laundering. The court also ordered the confiscation of assets worth over 400 million francs. A former account manager at the bank was sentenced to a 24-month suspended prison term.

Prosecutors had accused Gulnara Karimova of accepting bribes and laundering hundreds of millions of dollars in illicit funds through Swiss banks between 2005 and 2013. The court did not rule on the merits of these charges but instead closed the case on procedural grounds.