- Bitcoin supporters have enjoyed the news that Credit Suisse has helped criminals hide their money
- Drug traffickers and corrupt politicians were among the clients allowed to open accounts by Credit Suisse
- Bitcoin is often targeted as a criminal’s paradise, a story which has been rubbished again
Schadenfreude seems to be the order of the day for Bitcoin supporters after The Guardian revealed that banking giant Credit Suisse has helped criminals including drug traffickers, money launderers, and corrupt politicians hide tens of billions of dollars. The report, which dropped this weekend, reveals how Credit Suisse “repeatedly either opened or maintained bank accounts for a panoramic array of high-risk clients across the world”, with the much vaunted Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations for which crypto exchanges are accused of flaunting clearly having no impact.
Credit Suisse Helped Criminals Hide Tens of Billions
The Guardian report used data provided by a concerned whistleblower that offered details of accounts linked to 30,000 Credit Suisse clients all over the world, and revealed how the bank helped numerous bad actors operate with impunity. The irony, of course, is that Bitcoin has long been accused of fostering this kind of activity, with a clamour over the past two years for an increase in KYC and AML on crypto exchanges.
Clearly, however, these rules don’t apply to traditional banks, with “relationship managers” tasked with vetting high risk clients and, seemingly, letting many through the Credit Suisse doors despite their less than savoury backgrounds.
Naturally, the Bitcoin crowd could not let this irony pass:
💥LEAKED: Credit Suisse leak unmasks criminals, corrupt politician and secret owners of £80bn
But #Bitcoin is the problem huh?
— Bitcoin Archive 🗄🚀🌔 (@BTC_Archive) February 20, 2022
‘Human traffickers, murderers, corrupt cardinals: the shady dealings of Credit Suisse’
But yeah, #Bitcoin iS fOr cRiMiNaLs pic.twitter.com/kQuVHiEyYA
— CR1337 (@cryptonator1337) February 20, 2022
“Credit Suisse repeatedly either opened or maintained bank accounts for a panoramic array of high-risk clients across the world.”
Tomorrow, back to our regular coverage of how #bitcoin and #Crypto are uniquely responsible for criminal activity. https://t.co/fnTKGGu9MK
— Teymoor Nabili (@teymoornabili) February 21, 2022
The Irony Keeps Coming
What’s also ironic is that The Guardian, which also helped break the Panama Papers story, is staunchly anti-crypto, saying in the past that how hackers “love” Bitcoin and that Bitcoin’s existence makes it “harder to track online child abuse”. Given the fact that The Guardian has now reported on two huge financial fraud stories regarding traditional banks, not to mention Danske Bank laundering $223 billion in gold bars off the books, perhaps it should look to the traditional financial system it so loves for the real culprits.
