https://civil.ge/archives/577834

Bloomberg, a leading business news agency, published an article on January 16, entitled “UBS Wins as Credit Suisse Money-Laundering Probe Axed” based on the letter of Geneva’s top financial prosecutor Yves Bertossa, who had said that the legal dispute between the Swiss UBS Group, which has taken over the failed Credit Suisse last year, and Georgian tycoon Bidzina Ivanishvili should be closed, because the “investigation failed to find evidence of “any money laundering acts” by Patrice Lescaudron or third parties within the firm.”

Patrice Lescaudron was the Credit Suisse client advisor who forged signatures and even client statements to illegally transfer millions from the accounts of his biggest clients, including Bidzina Ivanishvili. Lescaudron’s fraud went undetected for nearly a decade. He finally confessed in 2015. In 2018, he was convicted by a Geneva court of betraying his clients’ trust. He was later released from prison in 2019 and took his own life in 2020.

Bidzina Ivanishvili first sued Credit Suisse in 2021, accusing the bank of fraud, saying “I just gave my money to Credit Suisse” and “What I know is that Credit Suisse lost my money.” The Supreme Court of Bermuda ruled in 2022 that Credit Suisse was responsible for failing to take reasonable steps to prevent fraud and mismanagement of the accounts.

The case went through numerous courts from Bermuda to Singapore, almost all of which found wrongdoing on the part of the Swiss financial institution: ” The mishandling of Lescaudron, who was convicted of fraud and forgery in 2018, led to a trail of court losses from Bermuda to Singapure which has left the combined bank facing hundreds of million of Swiss francs in damages,” – notes Bloomberg, adding that the Prosecutor Bertossa himself always accused Credit Suisse of failing to prevent illegal transactions, “which he said constituted aggravated money-laundering.”

As of today, Bertossa’s U-turn that the case cannot proceed citing lack of evidence. Credit Suisse itself “has always maintained that Lescaudron was a lone wolf who hid his deception from colleagues,” – reads the article.

Bloomberg also writes that Ivanishvili’s spokesman is appealing the decision to close the case. According to him, “Bertossa now “maintains that these crimes should be considered solely within the context of the offenses” for which Lescaudron was convicted, “rather than through the lens of money laundering,” – quotes the article. “We strongly disagree with this reasoning which ignores the evidence showing the relationship manager’s willingness to hide and launder the proceed of this frau,” Ivanishvili’s unnamed spokesman said according to the Bloomberg.