The Geneva court case involving a former private banker of Credit Suisse yielded some unexpected compliments for the Swiss No.2 bank. But the bank is well advised to take them with a pinch of salt.
«For me, Credit Suisse was not only the embodiment of Swiss banking, but of the global financial system,» said Vitaly Malkin, a former Russian senator and ex-client of the Swiss bank. And: «For me, Credit Suisse was like god.»
The praise heaped on Credit Suisse (CS) yesterday was ambiguous to say the least. Because he went on to say: «I never would have thought it possible that this bank – through one of its advisers – would have lent itself to fraud,» according to a report by «Le Temps» newspaper (in French).
No More Niceties
Malkin has run out of good words to say about CS, the court case against the former private banker showed yesterday. Malkin was called to witness in the case, which may proof to become tricky for the Zurich-based bank.
The 54-year-old French banker standing trial in Geneva, faces charges of fraud, forgery of document and corporate fraud. According to the charges, the former CS employee defrauded Eastern European clients who now demand to get some 100 million Swiss francs back. The best-known client is Bidzina Ivanishvili, an oil magnate and former prime minister of Georgia.
Messing With Eastern Europeans
And Malkin, a business associate of Ivanishvili. Yves Bertossa, the attorney general of Geneva, with his charges focuses on the person of the private banker, but the claimants of course have more hope of getting some of their money back from the bank, and not from the accused. They expect to be able to claim their assets back from CS with the help of a guilty verdict against the banker.
CS said it cooperated fully with the attorney general’s office in Geneva and said that the banker had violated internal rules and Swiss law in a bid to deceive the control system of the bank.
The rich Eastern Europeans see no reason to soften their stand though: «The bank has not only not paid any compensation – Credit Suisse also never apologized to me.»
