A Singapore court has ordered a trust unit of Credit Suisse to pay former Georgia Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili for failing to safeguard his assets. A response followed declaring the pursuit of an appeal.
Singapore subsidiary Credit Suisse Trust was ordered to pay nearly $743 million in compensation to former Georgia Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili for failing its duty to safeguard his assets, according to a judgement published online by the Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC). This is a revision from the original amount of $926 million after accounting for an earlier settlement and to avoid «double recovery».
Ivanishvili has sued Credit Suisse for fraudulent mismanagement of his wealth not only in Singapore but also in New Zealand and Bermuda. Credit Suisse has maintained that this was the result of lone efforts by rogue banker Patrice Lescaudron who was sentenced by Swiss authorities to five years in prison over fraud and forgery charges in 2018, before he reportedly committed suicide in 2020.
«The Singapore Court’s judgment is not final and, as already communicated in May 2023, Credit Suisse Trust Limited will pursue an appeal,» said a spokesperson in response.
