Bank Data Leak Causes Headache for Credit Suisse, Revisiting Ties to Shady Individuals
Posted on 02/20/2022
The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project got their hands on leaked bank records on how Credit Suisse Group AG helped alleged dictators, spies, and intelligence agents hide their illicit funds and money. These records detail how Credit Suisse participated in the handling funds of controversial figures, in which some cases were used for money laundering and tax evasion. Credit Suisse’s 2014 pledge to the U.S. government the Swiss bank made in order to settle criminal charges in the U.S. could be revisited if tax evaders were to be found after the deal was made. Credit Suisse paid a record US$ 1.3 billion fine over the matters in 2014.
The project created a hashtag #SuisseSecrets to track label-linked stories. Over 160 reporters from 48 outlets spent months pouring through the data.
Venezuela
One case involved the project reporters finding sixteen Credit Suisse accounts containing at least 162.9 million Swiss francs belonging to seven people who were convicted or accused of being involved in Venezuela’s PDVSA kickback scheme.
