ZURICH, June 25 (Reuters) - A Zurich court upheld on

Tuesday a judgment against four bankers convicted last year of

failing to perform due diligence in financial transactions after

helping a friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin move

millions of francs through Swiss bank accounts.

The four former employees of the Swiss unit of Russia's

Gazprombank had asked Zurich's high court to overturn

a conviction at a lower court last year.

The three Russians and a Swiss citizen helped Sergey

Roldugin, a concert cellist who has been dubbed "Putin's wallet"

by the Swiss government and is godfather to Putin's eldest

daughter, deposit millions of francs in Swiss accounts between

2014 and 2016.

The bankers, who cannot be identified under Swiss reporting

restrictions, were found guilty by Zurich's District Court in

March 2023 and given suspended fines totalling more than 450,000

Swiss francs ($504,000).

The prosecution had alleged the men failed to do enough to

determine the identity of the real owner of the funds and that

it was implausible that Roldugin could be the real owner.

Swiss law meant that clarifications were needed into how

Roldugin's accounts received dividends of 5 to 7 million Swiss

francs per year and how he acquired a 20% stake in a media

company with a value of more than 100 million francs, the court

heard on Tuesday.

"There was numerous research which could have been

undertaken," senior judge Beat Gut told the court, adding

Roldugin was being used as a 'strawman' - or cover - to hide the

real owners of the money.

"The passive acceptance of the claim that Roldugin got his

wages and loans is not plausible," Gut said. "In particular the

statement that it was acquired by means of loans indicated a

certain strawman financing."

($1 = 0.8927 Swiss francs)