Swiss court holds Credit Suisse guilty of money laundering

Swiss court holds Credit Suisse guilty of money laundering

The bank was fined £1.7m and ordered to pay £15m to the government

Switzerland's highest criminal court has found Credit Suisse, the country's second-largest bank after UBS, guilty of money laundering related to a Bulgarian drugs ring.

The court said that the bank did not do enough to prevent members of the crime syndicate from profiting off the trafficking of cocaine into Europe.

However, the Zurich-based bank denies wrongdoing and said it would appeal against the ruling.

A former Bulgarian tennis player, Elena Pampoulova-Bergomi, who worked at the bank, was found guilty of money laundering by the court and received a 20-month suspended prison sentence. Her £1.7m fine was also suspended.

The court heard the evidence on the bank's role in accepting millions of euros in bank deposits between 2004 and 2008, which it said was full of red flags.

The prosecutors said that Pampoulova-Bergomi had built an informal financial relationship with former Bulgarian wrestler Evelin Banev, who was a major figure in a European cocaine smuggling ring.

The court was told that the former tennis player regularly collected bags "full of cash" some amounting to the equivalent of £400,000 from people known to the wrestler.

The court stated, "We found deficiencies within the bank about the management of client relations with the criminal organization. These deficiencies enabled the withdrawal of the criminal organization's assets."

It also heard the testimony relating to the drug trafficking gang's activities, including murder.

It is the first time that a Swiss bank has been subject to such criminal proceedings.

In a statement, the bank said, "We are continuously testing the anti-money laundering framework and have been strengthening it over time in accordance with the evolving regulatory standards."