Credit Suisse hides mobsters, drug traffickers and money launderers’ riches, leak reveals

Swiss lender Credit Suisse allowed drug traffickers, money launderers and mobsters to hide their money offshore, according to documents leaked yesterday.

The trove of documents reveal Credit Suisse kept accounts for a billionaire who ordered the murder of his Lebanese pop star partner and a Hong Kong stock exchange boss jailed for bribery.

The leak was shared with The Guardian and several other international media organisations.

The Swiss lender denied the accusations.

“Credit Suisse strongly rejects the allegations and insinuations about the bank’s purported business practices,” it said in a statement.

“The matters presented are predominantly historical, in some cases dating back as far as the 1940s, and the accounts of these matters are based on partial, inaccurate, or selective information taken out of context, resulting in tendentious interpretations of the bank’s business conduct.”

Credit Suisse’s alleged role in helping criminals shift their money offshore adds to the long list of scandals that have embroiled the bank of choice for the world’s wealthy elite.

Last month, the lender lost its chairman Antonio Horta-Osorio after he stood down following an internal probe finding he broke Covid-19 quarantine rules to attend the Wimbledon tennis finals and the Euro 2020 final.