Credit Suisse leak removes masks of criminals, fraudsters, corrupt politicians

A massive leak from one of the world’s biggest private banks, Credit Suisse, has exposed the hidden wealth of clients involved in torture, drug trafficking, money laundering, corruption and other serious crimes, The Guardian reports.

Details of accounts linked to 30,000 Credit Suisse clients all over the world are contained in the leak, which unmasks the beneficiaries of more than 100 billion Swiss francs (£80 billion) held in one of Switzerland’s best-known financial institutions, according to the report.

Credit Suisse was cited as saying that Switzerland’s strict banking secrecy laws prevented it from commenting on claims relating to individual clients. This month, Credit Suisse became the first major Swiss bank in the country’s history to face criminal charges – which it denies – relating to allegation it helped launder money from the cocaine trade on behalf of the Bulgarian mafia, according to the Guardian report.

And it reveals how Switzerland’s famed banking secrecy laws helped facilitate the looting of countries in the developing world, according to the British newspaper report.