Lorenz Erni (72) made his big appearance at the Zurich Volkshaus on Friday. His plea, in which the defense attorney tried to clear his client Pierin Vincenz (65) of all allegations of fraud, lasted more than five hours.
Towards the end, Erni devoted himself to spending CHF 200,000 in strip clubs and contact bars, which Vincenz had paid for with the Raiffeisen company credit card. This was also legitimate: “Whether you like it or not: It is a fact that after a hard day of negotiations it was common not only to invite business partners to dinner, but also to nightclubs.” Not least because of this, the King’s Club in Zurich was also called the “strip club of the bankers”. And finally: “Members of the Raiffeisen Board of Directors sometimes went there after meetings.”
Directors know nothing
There are steep allegations by the Zurich star lawyer. Only, are they correct?
Johannes Rüegg-Stürm (60), Chairman of the Board of Directors of Raiffeisen from 2011 to mid-2018, denies it. “I’ve never been to a place like this,” he writes when asked. This type of “relationship care” is not compatible with Raiffeisen’s values, it’s just a shame.
It sounds very similar to Urs Schneider (63), the deputy director of the Swiss Farmers’ Association. During his time on the Raiffeisen board of directors, he was never asked if he would like to visit such a restaurant. “I’ve never been to a club like this with Raiffeisen. I don’t even know the King’s Club in Zurich.”
“Infamous allegation”
Former Zurich government councilor Rita Fuhrer (68) is also outraged. From 2010 to 2018 she sat on the top supervisory board of Raiffeisen and says: “I’ve never been to such an establishment.” She finds this statement very infamous and insulting to personality. Incidentally, she is not aware that other members of the Raiffeisen board of directors are said to have gone to strip clubs after meetings.
Review of Vincenz process: “The material battle surprised me”(06:16)
The Raiffeisen media office also spoke in this connection. “For visits by members of the board of directors in nightclubs, no receipts paid by Raiffeisen Switzerland were found during an expense check – not even from former members of the board of directors in the early days of Pierin Vincenz,” says a spokeswoman.
The bank does not want to comment further on the ongoing proceedings. You have to know that Raiffeisen is appearing as a private plaintiff in the process.
In view of these statements, SonntagsBlick wanted to know from Erni whether he had any evidence for his statements. The attorney declined to comment.