A woman leaves an ATM of an HSBC branch in Hong Kong on July 30, 2012. (AFP PHOTO / Philippe Lopez) |
GENEVA:
Several employees at the HSBC bank in Geneva have left "by mutual
agreement" after the unravelling of a 100 million euro ($130 million) drug
and money laundering ring in France and Switzerland, Swiss daily Tribune de
Geneve reported Friday.
While it
remained unclear how many workers had left, one of the employees to go was the
eldest brother of no fewer than three suspects accused of involvement in the
ring, including the main suspect for Switzerland operations Meyer Elmaley, the
daily said.
"He is
not suspected of any involvement (in the money laundering probe)", said
the man's lawyer, Marc Bonnant, adding that it was his client's idea to leave
HSBC's Supervisory Executive Committee to protect against any question of
wrongdoing.
"He
wasn't even questioned by police," the lawyer said, adding that his
client, whose name was not given, had gone to live in Israel but was still
working with HSBC before French and Swiss police cracked down on the ring on
October 10.
HSBC, which
declined to comment on the development to AFP, has also come to a similar
arrangement with other employees in a bid to protect its reputation, the lawyer
added.
Two of the
former HSBC executive's brothers -- one of them a former HSBC colleague -- are
being held in Swiss custody over their involvement in a drug and money
laundering racket Paris says legitimised at least 100 million euros.
A third brother
is being held in France in connection with the same case.
According
to reports, the two brothers held in Switzerland are suspected of laundering
cash through a Geneva-based finance company, with the possible unwitting
participation of French tax evaders.
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