Thread by @OCCRP

#SuisseSecrets: Today, OCCRP, @ArmandoInfo and @EfectoCocuyo reveal how powerful Venezuelans accused of looting the country’s state-owned oil company stashed their fortunes at Credit Suisse. 1/
occrp.org/en/suisse-secr…

Using court documents from Spain, the U.S. and Andorra, reporters identified 20 key players from four corruption schemes at Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A., once the jewel in the crown of Venezuela’s oil-dependent economy. 2/

Combing through thousands of banking records leaked from inside the scandal-ridden Swiss lender, we found well over USD$270m in 25 accounts belonging to these figures, their families and associates -- almost all of which were opened during the height of plunder at PDVSA. 3/

Experts say the findings reflect a culture of willful blindness at Switzerland’s second-largest bank. They are also emblematic of Swiss banking secrecy laws that encourage lax due diligence, and punish those who expose wrongdoing. 4/