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The Swiss Attorney General’s Office announced today that it has brought an indictment against Credit Suisse Bank, which prosecutors say has not done enough to stop money laundering related to drug trafficking by a Bulgarian criminal organization, including a fighter. who spent millions on car tickets to Switzerland, reports the Associated Press.
The indictment in federal criminal court, along with charges against a former Swiss bank manager and two members of the criminal group, is the culmination of a lengthy investigation into possible violations that appear to have taken place between 2004 and 2008, BTA reported.
The prosecutor’s office notes that after the fall of communism, famous athletes in Bulgaria turned to other sources of income and the mafia clans showed interest in many fighters. One of those combatants, whose name is not disclosed, tried to earn money trafficking cocaine and “laundering” the money he received, using “mules” to transport tons of cocaine from South America to Europe by air and sea.
The proceeds from the sale of medicines, often in small denomination banknotes, were deposited in Swiss bank accounts from 2004 to at least 2007 and used to buy real estate, mainly in Bulgaria and Switzerland.
The following year, prosecutors launched an investigation into the fighter and his employer, and then the director of Credit Suisse, who was in charge of the criminal organization’s business. The main crime of the fighter was committed in February 2006, when he transported from Barcelona to Switzerland the equivalent of more than 4 million Swiss francs in low-denomination notes hidden in his car.
A former director of Credit Suis, in charge of commercial relations with the criminal organization, carried out the transactions for the group, although there were strong indications that the money was of criminal origin. The director, a woman whose name was not released, deliberately prevented the origin of the funds from being established, which eventually reached transactions worth more than 140 million Swiss francs.
Credit Suisse has been aware of these inaccuracies since at least 2004. The fact that you have allowed this to continue until at least 2008 or even after that date has prevented or blocked the disclosure of the money laundering activities carried out by the criminal organization with the help of the bank director, said the Prosecutor’s Office.
The bank denied the allegations and said it was determined to actively defend itself, according to a Credit Suisse statement. The court could order the return of the illegally obtained profits and a maximum fine of $ 5 million, the statement added.
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