Leaked Docs Suggest That Credit Suisse Banked Known Criminals
According to leaked documents, private bank Credit Suisse held hundreds of billions of dollars of clients alleged or involved in drug trafficking, corruption, torture, money laundering, and other serious crimes.
If the allegations are shown true, it would be embarrassing for the bank, which in the past has accused crypto industry, saying that Bitcoin presents money laundering challenges.
The Latest Leak
A whistle-blower shared compromising data on more than 18,000 bank accounts holding over $100 billion, which was distributed to numerous other media outlets.
Documents include names like King Abdullah II of Jordan, former Venezuelan vice-minister of energy, Nervis Villalobos, and the two sons of former Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak.
According to New York Times, King Abdullah II has faced accusation of using shell companies registered in the Caribbean to buy dozens of properties, collectively worth over $100 million, in places inluding southeast England, Washington DC, and Malibu, California.
Villalobos has pleaded guilty to money laundering charges in connection with bribery schemes, U.S. DOJ announced.
Mubarak’s two sons were arrested for stock market manipulation and embezzling at least 500 million Egyptian pounds.
The latest leak follows the footsteps of the Panama Papers in 2016 and the Pandora Papers last year, that showcased billions of dollars worth of illicit money being handled by some of the largest banking institutions.
Credit Suisse Denies Allegations
The Swiss banking giant issued a statement denying that it has been involved in any illegal activities. According to Candice Sun, a spokeswoman for the bank, many of the leaked accounts were active in a “time where laws, practices, and expectations of financial institutions were very different from where they are now.”
Regardless, some of the leaked accounts were still operational until the late 2010s, meaning that they were active when global regulators were already enforcing strict rules on the industry.
Sun commented:
“Of the remaining active accounts, we are comfortable that appropriate due diligence, reviews, and other control-related steps were taken, including pending account closures.”
According to Credit Suisse the leaks are part of a “concerted effort” to discredit the bank and the Swiss financial marketplace, which “has undergone significant changes over the last several years.”
Credit Suisse Charged of Laundering Cocaine Money
Just weeks before the data leak, the Credit Suisse was facing charges in a local court for allowing a Bulgarian cocaine trafficking gang to launder millions of euros through the financial institution.
According to the Swiss prosecutors, the bank and its former relationship managers failed to take the necessary steps to prevent the hiding and laundering of illegally obtained cash for years, seeking the bank to pay $45 million in compensation.
Credit Suisse rejected all allegations and vowed to defend itself vigorously in court.
Money Laundering, Banks, Crypto?
In 2017, when cryptocurrencies led by Bitcoin were gaining traction on the international financial scene, the then sitting CEO of Credit Suisse, Tidjane Thiam, wasn’t very fond of Bitcoin:
“Bitcoin presents a number of challenges. The first of them is really the anonymity. I think most banks in the current state of regulation have little or no appetite to get involved in a currency, which has such anti-money laundering challenges.”
Thiam, who served as the bank’s chief executive for five years between 2015 and 2020, clearly wasn’t aware that Bitcoin transactions are recorded on the blockchain and are in fact more transparent than transactions done by banks.
Where the whole story gets more complicated is that the former head of the bank accused bitcoin of being a mean for money laundering. While now the leaked documents show that Credit Suisse, which he led for years, has been involved in money laundering since the 1940s.
