Swiss banking giant Credit Suisse, now part of UBS, faces a new legal battle as Georgian billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili claims CHF 200 million in damages, compounding the bank’s previous losses in Singapore and Bermuda.

Credit Suisse is once again under the legal spotlight as Georgian billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili seeks CHF 200 million in damages from a civil court in Geneva. This claim adds to the financial strain on the bank, which is already dealing with substantial payouts awarded by courts in Bermuda and Singapore.

The lawsuit stems from allegations against Credit Suisse of “countless contractual and legal violations” reported by the online portal “Gotham City.” The Geneva court recently revealed the lawsuit due to Ivanishvili challenging a CHF 1.1 million security deposit, as per documents obtained by AWP in anonymized form.

In 2022, the Bermuda court mandated Credit Suisse to pay Ivanishvili over $600 million, a sum further increased by a Singapore court’s 2023 verdict to pay an additional $743 million. These payouts are subject to overlap, which, according to earlier reports, could exceed $300 million.

The core of these legal battles traces back to fraudulent activities by Patrice Lescaudron, a Geneva-based Credit Suisse advisor. Lescaudron, who was dismissed in 2015 and convicted in 2018, managed to divert hundreds of millions from Ivanishvili’s accounts to other wealthy clients starting from at least 2011. After serving a portion of his five-year sentence, Lescaudron died by suicide in 2020.

UBS, which has recently acquired Credit Suisse, has declined to comment on the ongoing legal issues as per the latest reports. Meanwhile, Credit Suisse’s quarterly reports acknowledge ongoing civil lawsuits in Switzerland related to former clients of Lescaudron.

©Keystone/SDA