Suisse Secrets Expose Hundreds of Govt Leaders, Criminals, and Businessmen

Despite repeated promises to screen out corrupt clients and flush out illicit cash to the tune of billions of dollars, Switzerland’s second-largest bank, Credit Suisse, has so far “failed” to crack down on illegal funds held by dictators, criminals, and corrupt politicians, including Pakistanis, according to a $100 billion data leak dubbed ‘Suisse Secrets’.

According to the OCCRP, the data also reveals that 15 intelligence operatives from around the world, as well as their close relatives, have Credit Suisse accounts. The list of those mentioned in the leaks includes Jordan’s King Abdullah II, Egypt’s former strongman Hosni Mubarak’s two sons, and Venezuelan leaders embroiled in a long-running corruption investigation.

According to the findings, around 600 Credit Suisse accounts are linked to 1,400 Pakistani people. It also contained information about accounts that had previously been closed but were still operational.

The Pakistani accounts are diverse in nature. Individuals who have been or are now under investigation by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) are also included. In several cases, the accused opened accounts during investigations, and NAB was completely unaware of the transaction.

The report earmarks one politically exposed person who has one of the wealthiest accounts maintained by a Pakistani at the Swiss bank. In Pakistani accounts, the average highest balance was 4.42 million Swiss francs (Rs. 841 million), compared to the global average of 7.5 million Swiss francs in the leaked data (Rs. 1.42 billion). Moreover, the data exposes around 200 clients with accounts worth more than 100 million Swiss francs (Rs.19 billion), with more than a dozen having accounts worth billions.

Among the people named in the massive data leak, the sons of former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Chief, General Akhtar Abdur Rahman — who allegedly helped siphon billions from the United States and other countries to support the Afghan mujahedeen in the 1980s for the US — made the cut.

Lt Gen (R) Zahid Ali Akbar Khan, a key figure in Pakistan in the 1970s, was also named.

Referencing Suisse Secrets as context, the New York Times reported that “General Akhtar Abdur Rahman Khan helped funnel billions of dollars in cash and other aid from the US and other countries to the freedom fighters in Afghanistan to support their fight against the Soviet Union”.

Offering better details on the matter, the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) claimed that funds for freedom fighters resisting Russia’s presence in Afghanistan would flow to the CIA’s Swiss bank account.

Likewise, in the 1970s, Lt Gen (R) Zahid Ali Akbar Khan, was also named. The retired military general was arrested in 2013 at the Bosnian border on an international arrest warrant in coordination with Interpol, in relation to charges of corruption in Pakistan for holding assets of unknown origin in 77 different bank accounts. He made a 200 million rupee plea bargain in a corruption case in 2015 to avoid continued political persecution during General Pervez Musharraf’s tenure.

A Hong Kong stock trader who was once imprisoned on bribery charges, a tycoon who ordered the murder of his Lebanese girlfriend, a Filipino human trafficker, and dishonest politicians from Egypt to Ukraine are all included in the data.

One Vatican-owned account was used to spend $350 million in an allegedly fraudulent operation in the United Kingdom, which is still the subject of a criminal trial in which numerous defendants, including a cardinal, are facing charges.

Credit Suisse is one of the world’s largest money managers, boasting over 1.6 trillion Swiss francs (CHF) (£1.3 trillion) in client assets. Despite being a leading global financial institution, part of the bank’s growth strategy purportedly involves courting clients in emerging markets, where there is a greater risk of corruption.

Over the last two decades, Credit Suisse has been embroiled in dozens of scandals and has paid more than $10 billion in fines. This month, the bank became the first large Swiss bank to face criminal prosecution for allegedly assisting a Bulgarian drug cartel in money laundering, a charge which the institution openly denies. Moreover, the bank’s Chairman, Antonio Horta-Osorio, was fired last month after violating COVID-19 guidelines twice.