WASHINGTON: Journ­alists and investigators who uncovered a new Swiss banking scandal this weekend said on Monday that some account holders tried to stop their investigation but government officials did not interfere.

At an online news conference from Lisbon, Portugal, members of the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) said “there have been steps from clients who tried to, in my opinion, threaten in a legal way to prevent (the data’s) publication, not authorities.”

A US journalist was interested in knowing if US or Swiss authorities contacted OCCRP for follow-ups and if some authorities or individuals also tried to stem their probe. He also wanted to know why the investigators picked Credit Suisse for their probe.

“We did not pick Credit Suisse, it was a source who leaked Credit Suisse data and shared the information with us,” said Frederick Obermaier. “We would be happy to look at other options as well if whistleblowers approach us.”

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Mr Obermaier said he was not aware of any steps from authorities to prevent the investigators from reporting the scandal.

He said: “We have also not received any requests for follow-ups from Swiss or other authorities. But in informal ways, we have received messages from current and former prosecutors from different countries who applauded the team’s effort.”

Another OCCRP associate, Maxime Vaudano said that during the investigation, contacts with investigators in different countries also uncovered new investigations on historical cases.

Published in Dawn, February 22nd, 2022