Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), which set a new agenda all over the world with the Panama Papers in 2016, together with these documents, a money laundering, breaking embargoes and tax evasion, involving world leaders, many bureaucrats and many names from the business world. exposed such illegal financial activities. The Panama Papers consisted of 11 million documents in total.
OCCRP has released new documents and reports that have hit the world like a bombshell again today. With the work of the OCCRP and 47 media organizations, one of the world’s largest reviews was carried out. The subject of the investigations was the Swiss bank Credit Suisse. The new records, called ‘Suisse Secrets’, revealed the striking truth of 18,000 bank accounts with more than $100 billion in assets.
Even these accounts, which cover only a small part of the bank, revealed many names:
The data of 18 thousand accounts, which is only a small part of the bank accounts, were revealed. These data alone showed records of an Algerian general, sons of a great Azeri name, and a drug lord known as Misha Banana, among them. The average amount of money in 18,000 accounts was 7.5 million Swiss francs, or about 8 million 100 thousand dollars.
Although not all account holders share their identities, the research included some names with millions of dollars in their accounts. Among these names, King of Jordan II. Names such as Abdullah, the two sons of Egypt’s deposed leader Hosni Mubarak, the sons of Pakistani intelligence chief General Akhtar Abdurrahman, Venezuelan government officials, and Antonio Velardo, who are close to Ndrangheta, one of Italy’s largest mafia organizations, were found.
In addition to these, Kazakhstan President Cömert Tokayev, Nakhchivan leader Vasif Talibov’s sons Riza and Seymur Talibov, former President of Armenia Armen Sargsyan, Serbian drug lord Rodoljun Radulovic and ex-President of Algeria Abdulaziz Bouteflika’s account in Credit Suisse bank turned out to be open.
It was also noted that high-level government officials from countries such as Tunisia, Libya, Syria and Yemen transferred their money to their Swiss bank accounts, especially during the ‘Arab Spring’ period.
All of the names in the report are listed in this link.
Accounts also revealed interesting stories: Here are the highlights
- According to the details shared, Azeri Riza and Seymur Talibov, besides Credit Suisse He also held accounts at Barclays and other foreign banks. These accounts received a total of more than $20 million in ‘suspicious transfers’ from front companies that were part of Troika Laundromats, which had previously come to the fore with money laundering allegations. In the following years, the duo bought properties worth close to $63 million in Dubai and Georgia.
- More than two dozen Venezuelans linked to four corruption schemes at oil giant PDVSA have amassed at least $273 million worth of assets in 25 accounts. Accounts were opened between 2004 and 2015.
- Two accounts of the drug lord Rodoljub Radulovic, known as Misha Banana, have emerged, one of which is 3.4 million Swiss francs. It was seen that the owner of the other account was a company founded by Banana in the Marshall Islands, and from this account he received the money he kept in a different company. Allegedly, this account was used to launder money from cocaine.
How did all this come about?
According to information shared by the OCCRP, the data was submitted to the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung more than a year ago by an anonymous source. The source shared a note with the information, stating that banking secrecy laws in Switzerland are unethical. The data obtained was also under scrutiny for a long time and was finally shared after the work done today.
OCCPR announced that data will never be shared in raw form.
Announcement from the bank was not delayed:
Hours after the report was published, a statement came from Credit Suissie bank. The bank claimed that they did not make any illegal practices, that the information shared in the report was misleading and that the necessary information was not fully shared.
Switzerland has bustled after leaked data:
Following the release of the Suissie Secrets report, the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland has called for the repeal of a law that prevents journalists from reporting on Swiss bank customers.