A new Swiss bank has emerged with ties to the 1MDB affair, in hacked and leaked emails. They show the Genevan firm in a different light than rivals like Banca della Svizzera Italiana and Falcon Private Bank.
Geneva-based Lombard Odier has surfaced as the newest Swiss bank to be mentioned in the context of 1MDB, which U.S. prosecutors allege was plundered and spent on luxury real estate, fine art, and jewelry.
Unlike BSI and Abu Dhabi-owned Falcon, Lombard Odier doesn't seem to have maintained accounts for alleged 1MDB kingpin Jho Low – nor is it accused of any wrong-doing.
The Swiss private bank did hold an account for Yousef Al Otaiba (pictured above), according to emails leaked by a hacker collective to «The Wall Street Journal» (behind paywall).
Who is Otaiba? The United Arab Emirates ambassador in Washington and a highly influential link between the Middle East and the U.S. – and a financial link to Low.
Conspicuous Ferrari Toy
A long-time diplomat, Otaiba is also a very wealthy man, with a considerable stake in U.S. tech firm Palantir, for example. He managed his money out of Dubai, at least in part by former Credit Suisse banker turned independent asset manager Tobias Pfister (pictured below).
The leaked emails show that Otaiba and a Jordanian partner, Shaher Awartani, discussed «a transfer from Jho».
Otaiba demurred when his partner suggested buying a Ferrari sports car as «a new toy» to fete the deal, saying the luxury vehicle would be far too conspicuous on the streets of Abu Dhabi, the emirate's capital.
«Make Them Go Away»
Lombard Odier appears to have begun poking around in Otaiba's accounts after prosecutors in the U.S., Singapore and Switzerland ratcheted up a probe of how pilfered 1MDB money ended up in private coffers, including to buy diamonds for the first lady of Malaysia.
This elicited an email from Pfister, the Dubai money manager, who wrote to Otaiba and his partner saying «We need to work with them to make this go away,» referring to Lombard Odier's questions.
Pfister told his clients that he had been directed by Low to shut down the Lombard Odier accounts, and to avoid email when answering questions about the money.
Shut Lombard Odier Accounts
Several weeks later, according to the leaked emails, Otaiba and his partner did indeed close out their Lombard Odier accounts, taking the money to another, undisclosed firm.
A spokeswoman for the bank said Lombard Odier is «fully cooperating with the competent authorities and is not subject to an investigation.»
Otaiba, and Awartani didn't comment to the «WSJ,» nor did Pfister, who left Credit Suisse after seven years to strike out on his own in 2014 with investment firm Equalis. He was apparently backed by Awartani, who serves on Equalis' board, according to an emirate listing.
