Former Xamax owner gets prison sentence

Bulat Chagaev appeared before the Neuchâtel court in August of this year Keystone

Bulat Chagaev, the former owner of Swiss football club FC Neuchâtel Xamax, which was declared bankrupt in 2012, has been given a jail term for fraud and other charges.

Chagaev, who was president of the former two-time Swiss champion team from May 2011 to January 2012, was found guilty by a Neuchâtel court of criminal mismanagement, embezzlement of tax money, attempted fraud and falsifying documents.

The court gave him a three-year prison sentence – suspended for two years. Chagaev also has to pay fines in various civil cases and a share of the legal fees (CHF40,000 ($39,600)), the court’s president Alexandre Seiler said in a statement on Tuesday.

The local prosecutor had asked for a three-and-a-half-year fixed sentence. The Chechen’s lawyer had meanwhile called for his acquittal or for the four years he was held in custody to be taken into consideration.

Chagaev’s right-hand man, former club vice president Islam Satujev, was also handed a 15-month suspended sentence.

Domino effect

Chagaev took over Xamax in May 2011. But within weeks the team coach, sporting director, staff and several players had been dismissed or resigned. Four months later the main supporters’ club was dismissed by the owner and financial problems started to emerge in the local press.

Xamax was formally declared bankrupt by a court in canton Neuchâtel in late January 2012. A week earlier the Swiss League revoked their license because of suspected fraud and a failure to prove they could meet financial obligations. The club’s bankruptcy left debts amounting to CHF23 million.

Chagaev appeared before the Neuchâtel court in August of this year. He had reportedly been deported from Switzerland in August 2013.

In 2012 Xamax was the first Swiss top-tier club to drop out of the league midseason since Geneva’s Servette collapsed with debts in 2005.

Xamax was relegated to a regional league but the club has since restructured and on the field gone from strength to strength. After successive promotions, last season it finished second in the Challenge League, the Swiss second division; this season it is again in second place.