Ex-Banker Says $300,000 Worth Of Strip Club Visits Were Definitely Business-Related
Pierin Vincenz says the visits would sometimes follow business meetings or client dinners.
A former Banker of the Year has claimed that some of his more risqué out-of-work hour expenses were still definitely work related.
Pierin Vincenz, the former head of the bank Raiffeisen Switzerland, is facing some fairly serious allegations against him.
He's been accused of being involved in illegal trades, enrichment, fraud, and mismanagement while he was the Swiss bank's boss.
However, during the course of the investigation against him, there have been some rather interesting discoveries in his work expenses history.
Documents have revealed he spent roughly AUD$300,000 on visits to strip clubs, however he insists they were all related to his work.
He explained to the court: "With regard to [visits] to bars and nightclubs, I fully stand by that these were justified by business.
"There are individual invoices that appeared on the tab with regard to business trips, which [should have been] private, but on the whole, these were justified by my business activity."
A judge asked Vincenz: "Do I understand your claim correctly that, when you went alone to a cabaret, there were invariably business people present and every invitation was made in Raifeissen's business interest?"
He replied: "I didn't have the feeling I had done anything criminal here."
Reuters reports that these visits followed actual business meetings or client dinners, meaning they could have very well continued the conversation while in a dimly lit club as women danced around them.
However, not all the trips came after meetings.
Vincenz has been accused of going to these clubs 'spontaneously on his own in the interest of meeting entrepreneurs and business managers'.
But that's not the only bizarre thing that appeared on his work expense account.
The former Banker of the Year is accused of forking out 700 Swiss francs (AUD$1,069) on dinner with a Tinder date, whom he says he was interviewing for a job.
There was also the 4,000 Swiss francs (AUD$6,109) charged to his hotel room at the five-star Zurich Park Hyatt, which was damaged after he got into a fight with a woman he was dating at the time.
There were expensive trips to Mallorca and Australia that were chalked up as work-related, as well as 250,000 Swiss francs (AUD$381,814) on travel costs like flights and accomodation over the years.
Vincenz is one of seven people who are on trial at the moment - all of whom have denied the charges - and they're accused of a string of charges related to alleged activity between 2006 to 2017.
They face up to six years in jail if they're convicted and they could be forced to pay AUD$109 million in restitution.
Featured Image Credit: REUTERS/Ruben SprichTopics: News
Stewart Perrie