Swiss prosecutors open criminal case against Russian owner of Xamax Neuchatel

The owner of the Swiss club Xamax Neuchatel Bulat Chagaev is suspected of fraud, money laundering and forgery. A criminal case was opened against him, according to Le Matin.

Lately, Chagaev has been experiencing problems with the funding of the club, in which he bought a majority share in May. When asked to provide a proof of available funds sufficient to finance Xamax, Chagaev sent a guarantee letter from The Bank of America, which confirmed he had $35 million to his credit. However, the Swiss authorities suspected that this document was forged.

The offices of the companies owned by Chagaev were searched and some documents were seized for further study.

As of now, Chagaev’s location is unknown, and his lawyer Francois Canonica resigned after Chagaev had failed to provide him reasonable guarantees that the document was authentic.