The district court of Zurich has found guilty of negligence in the conduct of financial transactions of four bankers who helped a close friend of Russian President Putin to transfer millions of francs through Swiss bank accounts.

 This was reported by the Reuters agency.

 The court found three Russians and one Swiss guilty of helping Sergei Roldugin, a cellist whom the Swiss government calls "Putin's wallet." Roldugin is also the godfather of Putin's eldest daughter Maria.

 The men, who cannot be named due to Swiss privacy restrictions, received suspended sentences of seven months each. The four defendants were employees of the Swiss subsidiary of Gazprombank, in particular, according to the media, its executive director Roman Abdulin.

 The court ruled that the defendants helped Roldugin deposit millions of francs into Swiss bank accounts between 2014 and 2016. It is about 50 million Swiss francs in two Gazprombank accounts.

 According to the indictment, the bankers were criminally negligent by allowing the accounts to be opened and not questioning the origin of the funds.

 In particular, they signed declarations that the cellist was not a "politically significant person" - a formal definition that would have prompted additional scrutiny - despite public reports of his ties to the Kremlin and Putin.

 Prosecutors argued that the defendants were fully aware of Roldugin's true significance and connections.