Credit Suisse and one of its former bankers have been found guilty of failing to stop the laundering of Bulgarian drug money by a gang led by a former wrestler.
In the first ever criminal conviction of a major Swiss lender, Credit Suisse was fined £1.7million and ordered to pay £16million in compensation.
One of its former relationship managers – Bulgarian ex-tennis star Elena Pampoulova-Bergomi – was also fined and handed a suspended 20-month sentence.
Drug rap: Credit Suisse was fined £1.7m and ordered to pay £16m in compensation after being found guilty of failing to stop the laundering of Bulgarian drug money
The court found Credit Suisse and Pampoulova-Bergomi did not do enough to prevent money-laundering by a cocaine trafficking gang from 2004 to 2008.
The case centred on Pampoulova-Bergomi’s relationship with 57-year-old Evelin Banev, a former member of the Bulgarian national wrestling team who was the head of a major European cocaine smuggling operation.
The former world No.62 tennis star, 50, regularly collected suitcases stuffed with cash, including from a member of Banev’s gang who was later shot dead outside a restaurant in Sofia in 2005.
Banev was convicted of drug trafficking in Italy in 2017 and in Bulgaria in 2018 for being part of a criminal organization trafficking cocaine from Latin America.
Credit Suisse said it would appeal against the conviction.
‘Credit Suisse is continuously testing its anti-money laundering framework,’ the bank said.
Pampoulova-Bergomi’s lawyer said she would also appeal.
Experts said the case underlined Switzerland’s efforts to clean up its banking industry.
Mark Pieth, a money laundering expert at the University of Basel, said: ‘What is significant about this case is that Switzerland is taking legal action against a company and not just any company – Credit Suisse is one of the jewels in the Swiss crown.’
#fiveDealsWidget .dealItemTitle#mobile {display:none} #fiveDealsWidget {display:block; float:left; clear:both; max-width:636px; margin:0; padding:0; line-height:120%; font-size:12px} #fiveDealsWidget div, #fiveDealsWidget a {margin:0; padding:0; line-height:120%; text-decoration: none; font-family:Arial, Helvetica ,sans-serif} #fiveDealsWidget .widgetTitleBox {display:block; float:left; width:100%; background-color:#af1e1e; } #fiveDealsWidget .widgetTitle {color:#fff; text-transform: uppercase; font-size:18px; font-weight:bold; margin:6px 10px 4px 10px; } #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem {float:left; display:block; width:124px; margin-right:4px; margin-top:5px; background-color: #e3e3e3; min-height:200px;} #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem#last {margin-right:0} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemTitle {display:block; margin:10px 5px; color:#000; font-weight:bold} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemImage, #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemImage img {float:left; display:block; margin:0; padding:0} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemImage {border:1px solid #ccc} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemImage img {width:100%; height:auto} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemdesc {float:left; display:block; color:#004db3; font-weight:bold; margin:5px;} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemRate {float:left; display:block; color:#000; margin:5px} #fiveDealsWidget .footerText a:hover{text-decoration: underline;} #fiveDealsWidget .footerSmall{font-size:10px; padding-top:10px;} @media (max-width: 635px) { #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem {width:19%; margin-right:1%} #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem#last {width:20%} } @media (max-width: 560px) { #fiveDealsWidget #desktop {display:none;} #fiveDealsWidget #mobile {display:block!important} #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem {background-color: #fff; height:auto; min-height:auto} #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem {border-bottom:1px solid #ececec; margin-bottom:5px; padding-bottom:10px} #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem#last {border-bottom:0px solid #ececec; margin-bottom:5px; padding-bottom:0px} #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem, #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem#last {width:100%} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemContent, #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemImage {float:left; display:inline-block} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemImage {width:35%; margin-right:1%} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemContent {width:63%} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemTitle {margin: 0px 5px 5px; font-size:16px} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemContent .dealItemdesc, #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemContent .dealItemRate {clear:both} }
