Pierre Mirabaud convicted in Kuwaiti bribery case

Pierre Mirabaud, the former head of the Swiss Bankers Association, was given a two-year suspended jail sentence on Tuesday after a Swiss court convicted him in a bribery case involving a former Kuwaiti social security official.

The court in Bellinzona found Mirabaud, a retired former partner at Mirabaud Bank, guilty of corruption of foreign public officials and aggravated money laundering. The ruling may still be appealed.

Swiss prosecutors accused Mirabaud of paying illicit commissions to the Kuwaiti official, who invested social security assets in funds managed by the bank in exchange for commissions. The Kuwaiti official was paid more than 82 million Swiss francs, or $101 million, in illicit commissions between 2000 and 2012 on investments worth nearly $600 million.

The former Kuwaiti official died in London in 2022. He had been convicted in absentia in Kuwait in 2019 for embezzling public funds and money laundering.

Mirabaud Bank said it was not a party to the proceedings and did not comment on the case.