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Swiss banks dispute Madoff liquidator claims

Swiss banks targeted by liquidators seeking claims on behalf of investors duped in the Bernard Madoff fraud scandal on Thursday disputed their involvement in the affair.

Published: 8 June 2012 08:52 CEST

Irving Picard is charged with clawing back billions of dollars for the victims of Madoff’s Ponzi scheme and on Wednesday lodged new claims against several financial institutions, including three Swiss banks.

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise (BCV) said in a statement it “strongly disputes the basis of the action.”

The request for $10 million issued by the liquidator concerns investors who sold Madoff funds via the BCV and “does not concern the bank directly”, it said.

Private bank Lombard Odier & Co said in a statement it too “emphatically disputes the claim lodged by Picard and will employ all legal means available to challenge it.”

The Geneva-based bank said it did not recommend investing in Madoff’s funds, nor the “feeder” funds which supply them.

A third Swiss bank implicated in the affair, EFG International, declined to comment, saying it had not yet received a claim.

Wall Street financier Madoff succeeded for decades in convincing hundreds of investors that he was racking up huge profits with their savings.

Based on the fake profit reports they had received from Madoff’s investment fund operations, victims claimed some $65 billion in losses after the business collapsed in December 2008.

Picard is claiming $355 million from EFG International, $180 million from Lombard Odier and $10 million from BCV, the Swiss news agency ATS reported.

Deutsche Bank to pay $130m to settle US bribery probes

A woman walks past the offices of Deutsche Bank in London. Photo: Tolga Akmen / AFP

The bribery case relates to illegal payments and to false reporting of those sums on the bank's books and records between 2009 and 2016, the Department of Justice said in a press release.

The bank “knowingly and wilfully” kept false records after employees conspired with a Saudi consultant to facilitate bribe payments of over $1 million to a decision maker, the DOJ said.

In another case, the bank paid more than $3 million “without invoices” to an Abu Dhabi consultant “who lacked qualifications… other than his family relationship with the client decision maker,” the DOJ said.

In addition to criminal fines and payments of ill-gotten gains, Deutsche Bank agreed to cooperate with government investigators under a three-year deferred prosecution agreement.

In the commodities fraud case, Deutsche Bank metals traders in New York, Singapore and London between 2008 and 2013 placed fake trade orders to profit by deceiving other market participants, the DOJ said.

The agreement took into account Deutsche Bank's cooperation with the probes, DOJ said.

“Deutsche Bank engaged in a criminal scheme to conceal payments to so-called consultants worldwide who served as conduits for bribes to foreign officials and others so that they could unfairly obtain and retain lucrative business projects,” said Acting US Attorney Seth D. DuCharme of the Eastern District of New York.

“This office will continue to hold responsible financial institutions that operate in the United States and engage in practices to facilitate criminal activity in order to increase their bottom line.”

“We take responsibility for these past actions, which took place between 2008 and 2017,” said Deutsche Bank spokesperson Dan Hunter, adding that the company has taken “significant remedial actions” including hiring staff and upgrading technology to address the shortcomings.

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