500 million Swiss francs demanded
Russian oligarch is suing Credit Suisse
6/19/2022, 4:36 p.m
Switzerland has long been considered a safe haven for Russian money. However, an oligarch living in Monaco has come across a criminal adviser to the institute. While the perpetrator of the damage is no longer alive, the millionaire wants his money back. The bank sees it differently.
A Russian oligarch has sued the major Swiss bank Credit Suisse for 500 million Swiss francs (491 million euros) in compensation for losses allegedly caused by a financial advisor. As the Swiss “Sonntagszeitung” reported, the Monaco-based Russian millionaire Vitaly Malkin commissioned a US law firm to represent him in the legal dispute with Credit Suisse. The major bank rejected all allegations on request.
A Credit Suisse financial advisor was sentenced to five years in prison in 2018 for embezzling client funds and committed suicide two years later. According to the newspaper report, one of the injured customers is Malkin.
The oligarch is a former business partner of former Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili. Ivanishvili was recently awarded millions in compensation by a court in Bermuda for losses in connection with the Credit Suisse financial advisor. The bank announced an appeal.
Bank sees itself as a victim
All investigations into the case since 2015 have shown that the financial advisor acted alone and had no support for his “criminal activities” within the bank, Credit Suisse emphasized. The bank itself is one of the victims in the affair.
The crisis-plagued Credit Suisse last made negative headlines in February: According to an international research association, it accepted corrupt autocrats, suspected war criminals, human traffickers, drug dealers and other criminals as clients for many years. According to the New York Times, the documents provide information about the accounts of more than 30,000 customers from around the world and suggest that the bank has failed to screen many customers. Credit Suisse rejected all allegations. A large part of the accounts had also long been closed.