Credit Suisse Group AG paid EUR 197 million to billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili. "The bank has paid in the sum over time for the proceedings across all the plaintiff’s accounts," the Spokesperson for the Credit Suisse Group said.

"The statement is the most detailed admission yet of how much the legal wrangling is costing Credit Suisse globally and emerged amid closing arguments at a two-day hearing in Singapore, which will mark the end of a trial that began in September. Georgian tycoon Bidzina Ivanishvili sued the bank’s trust unit for $800 million in damages and lost income he said he would have made over the years if his money had been safely invested. Patrice Lescaudron was convicted in 2018 for fraud over a scheme he ran to take money from Ivanishvili’s accounts to cover growing losses among other clients’ portfolios," the statement added.

"Credit Suisse Trust has consistently argued that its responsibility was limited to the administration of the assets belonging to Bidzina Ivanishvili and that it was the tycoon, or his Georgian business adviser, who called the shots on investment decisions and should be liable for any losses. Lescaudron was a lone wolf who hid his crimes from colleagues, according to the bank," the information emphasized.

As previously reported by Caucasus Watch, Bidzina Ivanishvili, former head of Georgia and founder of the Georgian Dream party, received a letter from Credit Suisse on July 5 explaining that the bank now has regulatory obligations as a result of the European Parliament's resolution imposing sanctions on Ivanishvili and that the trust will no longer act without court approval, according to the MKD, the law firm defending Ivanishvili's interests.