Ex-Banque Pictet Employee Faces Probe Into Missing Millions

(Bloomberg) -- Geneva prosecutors are investigating a former back-office employee of Banque Pictet over allegations the person stole millions of dollars from Switzerland’s biggest privately-owned bank.

An investigation was opened on March 19 into suspicions of fraud and breach of trust, according to a spokeswoman for the Geneva prosecutor’s office. She declined to give further details and the person’s name has not been disclosed as is typical under Swiss law.

The suspect, a 20-year veteran of the bank who did not have front-office contact with clients, allegedly stole the money from the bank in stages over nearly a year, according to online site Finews, which first reported the case. The amount said to be stolen was less than 5 million Swiss francs ($5 million), Geneva newspaper Le Temps reported Tuesday.

Pictet, founded in 1805, reported profit of 596 million Swiss francs in 2018 and had 496 billion francs under management at year’s end. A spokesman for Pictet declined to comment, citing restrictions imposed by Swiss justice during an open investigation.

To contact the reporter on this story: Hugo Miller in Geneva at hugomiller@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Anthony Aarons at aaarons@bloomberg.net, Peter Chapman, Christopher Elser

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