The Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, a non-profit journalism group, in the “Suisse Secrets” investigation revealed the names of thousands of notable people and groups from across the world whose dirty money was handled by Credit Suisse.
Following are just a few of the names mentioned in the investigation.
Sani Abacha
In 2000, Credit Suisse has been accused of ignoring anti-money laundering rules when accepting $214 million in deposits from two sons of late Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha. Two years after accepting the money from Abacha’s son, the Swiss Banking Association fined Credit Suisse750,000 $505,100 over its handling of Abacha family funds.
Najib Razak
In 2017, Monetary Authority of Singapore fined Credit Suisse $500,000 for anti-money laundering violations related to a scandal that saw billions stolen from Malaysia’s state investment fund by a group of well-connected people, including former prime minister Najib Razak.
Alvaro Sobrinho
In 2017, Credit Suisse was ordered by the Switzerland’s Office of the Attorney General to freeze accounts holding $174 million connected to Alvaro Sobrinho, the former chairman of Banco Espirito Santo Angola.
Elf Aquitaine
In 2001, Swiss prosecutors investigating embezzlement and bribery at the French oil company Elf Aquitaine froze $141 million in an account that someone from Credit Suisse maintained.
Criminal’ enterprises
In 2010, German prosecutors raided 13 Credit Suisse offices searching for evidence that staff assisted clients in evading taxes. The probe was launched after authorities in Dusseldorf received data from an anonymous informant. The following year, the bank agreed to pay a fine of $216 million to end the investigation.
In 2011, Swiss authorities started investigating a “large number’ of bank accounts in relation to a tax fraud scheme by Russian government officials that saw $230 million siphoned out of the country.
In 2014, Credit Suisse accepted a fine of $2.6 billion from the US Department of Justice for helping Americans hide assets from the government. Top executives hauled before a Senate committee that year said the bank “regrets very deeply” its criminal conduct and promised to comply with tax laws in the future.
In 2009, Credit Suisse accepted a fine of $536 million from US authorities for helping Iranian, Sudanese, and Libyan clients dodge sanctions.
Published in Dawn, February 22nd, 2022
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