“Suisse Secrets”: Credit Suisse and its criminal clients

For years, the Swiss bank Credit Suisse has also had criminals, controversial heads of state and corrupt officials as customers. This emerges from a data leak that NDR, WDR and have evaluated SZ.

The research brings the dark past of Credit Suisse to light. A past, the consequences of which could hit the financial house hard now, years later. From the 1940s until well into the past decade, the major bank also offered criminals, corrupt politicians and controversial secret service chiefs a safe haven for their assets – despite all public declarations of a “white money” strategy.

An anonymous whistleblower leaked the dataset that brings all this to the public for the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” (SZ). The informant provided the data with a statement: “I believe that Swiss banking secrecy is immoral. (..) This situation enables corruption and is depriving developing countries of much-needed tax revenue.” Indeed, the data highlights the elites of many developing countries who appear to have found refuge for questionable fortunes at Credit Suisse.

The research was coordinated by the international journalist network Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and the SZ. Journalists from “Le Monde”, “The Guardian” and the “Miami Herald” were among those involved.

“This is a total failure”

When looking at the research results, the Swiss judge and university professor Monika Roth sees massive violations by Credit Suisse. Roth calls the fact that the bank has accepted former Venezuelan politicians suspected of corruption as customers “outrageous. It’s a total failure and actually leads to nothing to prevent money laundering and corruption.”

Because according to Swiss law, banks are not allowed to accept funds that could originate from criminal transactions and must assess the risks in this regard. In addition, they must report if customers suspect that their assets could originate from criminal activities. Strict rules also apply to foreign politicians and their families. Since there is a risk of corruption here, the banks have to check the origin of the funds in particular.

Lots of notorious names

The “Suisse Secrets” raise the suspicion that Credit Suisse has not always adhered to these guidelines for years. In fact, controversial heads of state and their families appear in the “Suisse Secrets”.

Several family members of Kazakhstan’s ex-president Nursultan Nazarbayev are prominently represented in the data. Nazarbayev’s family is still considered extremely powerful and influential. And apparently she is also extremely rich. According to the data, the ex-president’s two daughters and son-in-law held accounts at Credit Suisse Bank, most of which were closed in 2012.

At times, several accounts contained sums in the tens of millions, and a company account, which Nazarbayev’s son-in-law also had access to, contained values ​​of more than 843 million Swiss francs. When asked, the presidential family did not want to comment on the origin of the funds. Oil-rich Kazakhstan suffers massively from corruption. In January, thousands of demonstrators took to the streets, also to protest against the corrupt elite.

King of Jordan with a three-digit million credit

Another Credit Suisse client is Abdullah II, King of Jordan. Even after the media reported on his “kingdom of corruption,” he was allowed to keep accounts with Credit Suisse and open a new one. High on one of the accounts: at times 230 million Swiss francs. One of the accounts is apparently still active.

Upon request, his attorney confirmed the accounts and account balances. But: The funds came from private assets, such as inheritances. Some of the accounts are investment accounts. Nothing comes from the Jordanian state budget or is of corrupt origin. Abdullah II had already attracted attention in other data leaks through questionable investments via letterbox companies.

Venezuelan ex-politician stashed away millions

Nervis Villalobos, Venezuela’s former deputy energy minister, is also in the data. He is said to have been one of the string pullers in the bribery scandal surrounding the state oil company PDVSA. The man, who has since been accused of corruption in the United States, had an account with Credit Suisse until 2013. Assets meanwhile: 9.5 million Swiss francs. The former top politician with direct ties to President Hugo Chavez is said to be in Spain at the moment. He did not answer questions about his money in Switzerland.

The Swiss expert for white-collar crime, Monika Roth, sees the bank as having an obligation in the cases mentioned. “Foreign ministers, heads of state, senior officials are politically exposed persons in the sense of money laundering prevention. And for these business relationships, there are massively increased due diligence requirements, both in recording and in monitoring.”

Credit Suisse believes it is right

Credit Suisse did not comment on individual cases when asked. In a written statement, she denies the allegations: “These cases are based on incomplete, incoherent information. This leads to one-sided explanations of the bank’s business conduct.” The cases are mostly historical and the bank reacted to abuses in accordance with the guidelines in force at the time. In addition, all applicable laws would be adhered to in principle.

Criminals also got accounts

Not only politically exposed people found a safe place for their money in the Swiss bank, but also criminals were allowed to park their assets at Credit Suisse, sometimes years after their conviction. For example Rodoljub R., convicted of illegal financial and oil transactions and accused of playing a significant role in the international cocaine trade. R. temporarily had 3.4 million francs at Credit Suisse.

Credit Suisse opened an account for him in 2005, even though a court had found his guilt proven. This and another account were open until 2010. Rodoljub R. left an inquiry unanswered. However, the data also includes accounts of suspected money launderers, a human trafficker and a former controversial head of the Jordanian secret service.

A former Siemens manager also joins the list of questionable customers. The man managed the company’s Nigeria business for years and was convicted of corruption in 2008 as part of the Siemens bribery scandal. The ex-Siemens manager had a total of six Swiss accounts with Credit Suisse or one of its subsidiaries. One of the accounts temporarily showed around 54.5 million Swiss francs, according to the leaked bank data. When asked, one of the man’s lawyers said his client “resolutely rejects the accusation that he stole money from Siemens or received money as a result of corrupt or criminal behavior in Nigeria.”

When asked, the bank said it was absurd to assume that Credit Suisse would tolerate or support illegal transactions. All research results on the Suisse Secrets have been published worldwide since Sunday evening.