An international journalistic investigation claims that Switzerland's second-largest bank, Credit Suisse, has for decades administered billions of dollars in hidden wealth belonging to dictators, human rights abusers, and individuals suspected of corruption and other criminal activity -- some of them from former Soviet republics and Balkan states.
The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), a nonprofit journalism consortium that partners with dozens of media outlets, on February 20 issued the conclusions of the investigation based on a massive data leak.
Credit Suisse has officially rejected the accusations, calling them "allegations and insinuations," saying in a statement that part of the information was old, dating back more than seven decades.
The OCCRP said the leak, the largest ever involving a Swiss bank, included more than 18,000 bank accounts, many of which "remained open well into the 2010s."
According to the OCCRP report, which is based on the analysis of Credit Suisse accounts worth some $100 billion at their peak, more than $8 billion belonged to corrupt officials, dictators and their relatives, criminals and others suspected of criminal activity, and human rights abusers, among others.
Some 48 media outlets worldwide took part in the investigation, including The New York Times, Le Monde, and The Guardian.
Among those who hold or held the accounts in question are the following individuals from former Soviet republics and the Balkans:
Armenia: former President Armen Sarkisian.
Azerbaijan: Rza and Seymur Talibov, two sons of former Azerbaijani official Vasif Talibov; Azerbaijani businessman Vugar Abbasov, a close associate of Vagif Talibov; Anar Mahmudov, a son of the former National Security Minister Eldar Mahmudov; Eldar Azizov, the mayor of Baku.
Belarus: Alyaksey Aleksin, a Belarusian tycoon close to authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka.
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Kazakhstan: Nadezhda Toqaeva, the ex-wife of President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev; Darigha Nazarbaeva, a daughter of former President Nursultan Nazarbaev; Timur Kulibaev, a son-in-law of Nazarbaev.
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Serbia: Bojan Kristo, former manager of the state lottery and the deputy prime minister’s cabinet member; Branislav Bogicevic, a businessman whose company is being investigated for corruption; Dragutin Pihler, director of the Moscow office of the Serbian architectural firm Centroprojekt; Rodoljub Radulovic, a Balkan drug lord; Vuk Hamovic, a Serbian energy tycoon whose business is under investigation for corruption.
Tajikistan: Qosim Rohbar, former regional governor and ex-agriculture minister.
Uzbekistan: Saodat Narzieva, a sister of Uzbek-born Russian tycoon Alisher Usmanov; Rano Ramatova, wife of First Deputy Prime Minister Ochilboy Ramatov; Igor Shepelev, secretary-general of the Uzbek Tennis Federation; Gulrukh Tillyaeva, an aunt of late President Islam Karimov's son-in-law.
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"The matters presented are predominantly historical...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," the statement said, adding that of the "the remaining active accounts, we are comfortable that appropriate due diligence, reviews, and other control-related steps were taken in line with our current framework," Credit Suisse said in a statement issued on February 20.