U.S. prosecutors are investigating Credit Suisse Group
AG’s role in a $2 billion Mozambique corruption case and believe they have
evidence of the Swiss lender’s culpability after three former bankers pleaded
guilty last year, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
Prosecutors believe Credit Suisse can be held
criminally liable for its employees’ crimes if they were committed in the scope
of their role and at least partly benefited the bank, said one of the sources
who is a U.S. law enforcement official. They believe a plea deal and
testimonies from two former bankers at a subsequent trial give them evidence of
the bank’s culpability, the sources said. Prosecutors from the Eastern District
of New York contacted the bank in February and laid out their initial case
against it, the second source said.
The prosecutor’s view on the bank’s culpability and
the latest contact between prosecutors and the bank have not been previously
reported. It is not clear whether prosecutors will file any charges against the
bank. The second source said talks between prosecutors and Credit Suisse could
go on for as long as a year and the bank, which disputes that testimonies from
its former bankers proved its guilt, may fight any charges in court. The
Justice Department declined to comment. The two sources declined to be named
due to sensitivity of the matter.
The case stems from loans Credit Suisse helped arrange
between 2013 and 2016 to develop Mozambique’s coastal defenses, shipping fleet
and tuna fishing industry.
The three former Credit Suisse bankers, along with two
middlemen and three Mozambican government officials, were charged in 2018 for
money laundering and defrauding U.S. investors who had invested in the loans.
U.S. prosecutors said at least $200 million of the loans had been diverted to
the eight defendants. The former bankers pleaded guilty last year.
One of the former bankers, Andrew Pearse, who was a
managing director, said during his plea hearing that he had accepted millions
of dollars of unlawful kickbacks to enrich himself and Credit Suisse, according
to a court transcript. The bank earned $24 million in fees on the loans, but is
still waiting for Mozambique to repay a $270 million portion of the loan, one
of the sources said.
A second former Credit Suisse banker who pleaded
guilty testified at the trial of one of the middlemen that the bank was aware
that the value of the ships financed through the loans were false, the sources
familiar with the matter said. The banker testified during a cross-examination
that the bank failed to notify investors after learning that boats it had
financed were worth about $250 million and $400 million less than it had
originally indicated on the loan, said the law enforcement official.
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