Trial against the dead and the lost: A CS chapter about the Bulgarian mafia and money laundering catches up with UBS.
In 2022, the Federal Criminal Court sentenced Credit Suisse (CS) to pay 19 million Swiss francs in compensation and a fine of 2 million Swiss francs. The court ruled that a former CS customer advisor, a Bulgarian ex-athlete, had laundered drug money linked to Bulgarian mafia boss Evelin Banev. Both CS and the employee appealed the decision, leading to the current proceedings.
The first complication is that CS no longer exists, so it cannot appear in court. However, in September, the Federal Criminal Court ruled that UBS, which acquired CS, must now represent the bank in court, as UBS inherited all of CS’s legal obligations. UBS argues that the dissolution of CS renders the case invalid.
The second issue is that all the accused CS employees have died. The customer advisor’s boss passed away early in the investigation, and the advisor herself died of cancer. According to Swiss law, UBS can only be convicted if it is proven that an employee committed a criminal offense. The lawyer representing the deceased’s family, Grégoire Mangeat, is contesting the trial, arguing that the advisor’s innocence cannot be defended posthumously, which undermines the presumption of innocence.
UBS is using the deaths in its defense. UBS maintains that no one was convicted of money laundering, so it cannot be found guilty of failing to prevent a crime that was never proven. Anti-corruption journalist Federico Franchini, who exposed the case, notes that this reflects a past business model of Credit Suisse, where cash from drug trafficking ended up in Swiss banks. However, current anti-money laundering rules and the end of banking secrecy make such cases unlikely today.
At the hearing on Tuesday, UBS requested a suspension of the appeal until the Federal Court rules on its plea to discontinue the case. Although the Federal Court rejected UBS’s request for an immediate suspension, the decision on whether to pause the trial is expected tomorrow.