The sentencing of a former Credit Suisse private banker specialized in wealthy Russians paves the way for his former clients to pursue legal action against the Swiss bank.
Patrice Lescaudron, an ex-Credit Suisse private banker, was impassive as a Geneva court sentenced him to five years in prison for a fraud scheme he owned up to when his trial opened two weeks ago, according to media reports.
If clothes make the man, the 54-year-old Frenchman may have been trying to evoke his high-flying days by wearing a sweatshirt emblazoned with Ferrari (the brand of luxury car he was accused of splurging on with his ill-gotten spoils) for the sentencing. He pilfered clients like billionaire and ex-Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili and Russian oligarch Vitaly Malkin out of 143 million Swiss francs, pocketing 30 million francs for himself, the Geneva judge found.
The verdict is remarkable in that it may sound the starting gun on a host of civil lawsuits against Credit Suisse, which is a plaintiff in Lescaudron's criminal trial. Clients including Malkin say they are lawyering up because they are angry at the Swiss bank's claims that it knew nothing about the rogue banker's dealings, and what they perceive as its lack of sympathy to their plight.
Testing CS' Claims
Credit Suisse said it is satisfied with the judgment overall, but will review whether it will appeal on technical reasons. The bank has maintained that the erstwhile private banker acted alone, and that the bank didn't know that he used client money to cover trading losses. The bank now faces a potentially lengthy civil court proceeding to test how watertight that argument is, from a group of cash-rich Russian clients with little to lose.
Genevan prosecutor Yves Bertossa said the bank’s role in the matter is the subject of a parallel proceeding, without elaborating, according to «Reuters». As for Lescaudron, who has already served two years in custody ahead of his trial, the ex-banker could be free as soon as 2019 if officials give him time off for good behavior. Notably, he was ordered to repay more than 130 million francs, but not banned from working in the banking industry in the future.
