Gulnara Karimova — the daughter of Uzbekistan’s former president — and a Swiss private bank faced trial for money laundering in Switzerland on Monday.

But Karimova, whose father Islam Karimov ruled Uzbekistan for 25 years until his death in 2016, was not in court as she is serving a 13-year sentence in her home country for embezzlement.

“Ms Gulnara Karimova and another defendant did not appear today,” a spokeswoman for the Federal Criminal Court in the southern city of Bellinzona told AFP.

The court was due to determine the next steps in the case on Tuesday.

Karimova was indicted by Switzerland in 2023 in a vast case involving alleged corruption, fraud and organised crime stretching over many years.

The Alpine nation’s Office of the Attorney General (OAG) said she stood accused of setting up and participating in a criminal organisation known as “The Office”, which operated in several countries.

The charges cover the period from 2005 to 2012 and revolved around “participation in a criminal organisation”, “money laundering”, “acceptance of bribes as foreign public officials” and “forgery of documents”.

The organisation began its operations in Switzerland in 2005 “to conceal the capital originating from its criminal dealings, in Swiss bank accounts and safes and by purchasing real estate”, it said.

– Diplomatic immunity –

The OAG first opened an investigation in 2012, although Karimova herself initially enjoyed diplomatic immunity, since she was serving as Uzbekistan’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva.

After that immunity was lifted in 2013, the investigation expanded to focus on her.

The OAG said its investigation led it to conclude that some of the funds laundered in Switzerland were allegedly deposited into accounts at the Lombard Odier bank in Geneva.

“The bank and one of its former relationship managers are alleged to have played a decisive role in concealing the proceeds of the criminal activities,” the OAG said in 2024.

“They have therefore been under criminal investigation since December 2016 on suspicion of aggravated money laundering.”

The bank, which has flatly rejected the allegations, insisted in a statement issued on Monday that “the Swiss prosecutor is not claiming that Lombard Odier knowingly or willingly participated in any money laundering activity”.

“The claims raised against the bank pertain to alleged organisational shortcomings in relation to the effective prevention of money laundering,” it said.

“The bank firmly refutes these allegations and intends to defend itself at trial.”

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