Xamax’s Chechen boss being sued for ­forgery

The Chechen boss of Swiss football club Neuchatel Xamax, Bulat Chagaev, is being sued for forgery and attempted fraud, the lawyer who lodged the criminal complaint said yesterday.

“We sent our complaint on Monday to the Neuchatel judge,” said Vincent Solari, the lawyer representing one of Xamax’s creditors, Ralph Isenegger.

The complaint was filed after media reports emerged that Chagaev had submitted a falsified document to prove his solvency during a bankruptcy claim filed by Isenegger.

Swiss justice had also raided Chagaev’s offices after doubts arose over the authenticity of the Bank of America document, Swiss newspaper Le Temps reported.

Chagaev owns four companies in Geneva that deal in commodities trading and property.

According to Radio Suisse Romande and newspaper Le Matin Dimanche, the signature on the Bank of America document certifying that Chagaev held $35 million in the bank is not known to anyone in the financial institution.

In addition, the poor English used on the document, as well as details such as Chagaev’s address in French, an unrecognised stamp of the bank and an obsolete address of the bank, all raised doubts about the letter’s authenticity.