Credit Suisse: Customer Losses in Lescaudron Case Rise to $607M
Credit Suisse recognizes the sum.
(Bloomberg) Georgian billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, who has sued Credit Suisse subsidiary CS Life for fraud by former client advisor Patrice Lescaudron, is said to have lost around $607 million (€575 million) in the case. That’s the amount a court comes to in a new estimate that’s nearly 10 percent higher than the latest figure in a March ruling.
The new amount of damages was announced Tuesday at a hearing chaired by Narinder Hargun, chief justice of the Bermuda Supreme Court. In March, Hargun asked the auditors of both sides to provide a more accurate estimate of Ivanishvili’s losses. At the time, Hargun had estimated the losses at $553 million.
The judge criticized CS Life in March, saying it had “turned a blind eye” to the misconduct of convicted fraudster Patrice Lescaudron. The bank replied that the Frenchman, who was convicted in 2018 and has since died, was a lone wolf who hid his fraudulent activities.
Jonathan Crow, CS’s attorney, said at the beginning of the hearing that he was not contesting Hargun’s verdict and accepted the revised figure of $607 million. Instead, he sought to limit the scope of possible compensation. Ivanishvili’s lawyer Joe Smouha dismissed the bank’s arguments as an abuse of procedure.
Judge Hargun said at the end of the court session that he would later decide on the amount of damage determined by the auditors, as well as on the arguments put forward by the lawyers.