Credit Suisse Leak Reveals Details On 30,000 Bank Clients; 18,000 Accounts With Possible Criminal Ties

Startling revelations from a Credit Suisse Group AG (NYSE: CS) whistleblower has exposed the hidden wealth of the bank’s clients, some of them unsavory. 

The leaked data from Credit Suisse, Switzerland’s second-biggest bank, discloses details on more than 30,000 clients. The leak points to widespread failures of due diligence by Credit Suisse, despite many pledges over the decades to target illicit funds. 

The German daily, Sueddeutsche Zeitung, received the data about the bank from an unknown source. The data points to the bank having accepted “corrupt autocrats, suspected war criminals and human traffickers, drug dealers and other criminals” as customers.  

Several newspapers reported that more than 18,000 leaked accounts showed criminals, alleged human rights abusers and sanctioned individuals (including dictators) had been clients of the Swiss bank.

According to the report, the account holders included a Yemeni spy chief who was implicated in torture, Venezuelan officials involved in corruption scandals, and the sons of former Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak.

However, in a statement, Credit Suisse said that it “strongly rejects” the accusations made about its business practices.

The bank said it had reviewed a large number of accounts potentially associated with the allegations, and about 90% of them “are today closed or were in the process of closure before receipt of the press inquiries, of which over 60% were closed before 2015.”

Photo: Finance Blue on flickr