Credit Crisis (Swiss Press Online 2020, by Christian Zeier) - Swiss Press Award
REFLEKT und DAS MAGAZIN
Christian Zeier
The non-profit research team REFLEKT wants to uncover malfeasance. “Credit Crisis” is the title of an exhaustive story about a financial scandal in Mozambique – which reaches as far as Switzerland. It is about secret loans to companies close to the government, which then go bankrupt and plunge the emerging East African country into a debt crisis. Part of the illegal deal was a state guarantee, which means that the people will have to pay for the loss and suffer a sudden surge in inflation. Half of the two billion dollars came from a British subsidiary of Credit Suisse, where some employees allegedly received bribes to release the funds, including for a tuna fishing fleet. The federal prosecutor is examining whether criminal proceedings against the major bank will have to be opened. According to REFLEKT, the parent company shares the responsibility, something proven by confidential documents. Various background material is put online; video statements by experts and those affected round off this extensive research.
Interview with Christian Zeier
