Thread by @OCCRP

NEW: The #SuisseSecrets leak shows how powerful African political figures shared accounts at Credit Suisse worth many millions with executives at a Swiss investment fund at the heart of a massive bribery scandal. 1/
occrp.org/en/suisse-secr…

Addax Petroleum burst from obscurity in the late 1990s to take Nigeria’s oil industry by storm, landing one of the most lucrative deals the country had ever seen. 2/

Years later, French court proceedings revealed the firm had secured the contracts by bribing the Nigerian oil minister to the tune of US$5 million. 3/

Now, OCCRP reveals that executives from the firm’s parent company also held secret accounts at Credit Suisse with other powerful West and Central African political figures. The accounts were opened as the company prospered from its operations in the region. 4/

Among them was Umaru Ali Shinkafi, a former Nigerian spy chief and associate of military dictator Sani Abacha, whose ties to the Swiss investment firm have not been previously reported. 5/

Though Addax and Oryx Group, Addax Petroleum’s parent company, claim the holdings were used for “usual business purposes,” experts say they can “hardly think” of any legitimate reason for setting up the accounts. 6/

You can learn more about the #SuisseSecrets project, an international collaboration between OCCRP and 46 media partners around the world, at the link below. 7/
occrp.org/en/suisse-secr…