Has the famous Credit Suisse bank laundered the millions of Evelin Banev (Brendo) and the Bulgarian drug mafia? “Neue Zürcher Zeitung” recalls the criminal career of the Bulgarian drug lord, who left behind a long bloody trail.
On May 31, 2005, two Bulgarians entered the headquarters of the Swiss bank Credit Suisse in Zurich. Evelin Banev and Konstantin Dishliev know each other, and this is not the first time they have been to this place. As always, Magdalena T. (her name has been changed) receives them in her office on the first floor of the bank’s headquarters.
Magdalena is also from Bulgaria. She used to compete for the country at the Olympic Games. After the end of her controversial career, she managed to transfer to the banking business, the Swiss newspaper writes and tells about the subsequent showy murder of Dishliev in Sofia, which remains unsolved to this day.
Money laundering on a gigantic scale
According to the Neue Zurcher Zeitung, many believe that it was Brendo who was behind the crime because there was a rift between him and Dishliev. It is said that they were in Switzerland to share the illegally obtained profit, but never managed to reach an agreement.
Credit Suisse and the former employee of the bank from Bulgaria are today on the dock. The Swiss prosecutor’s office accuses them of money laundering in the amount of 140 million Swiss francs. Criminal production against the former employee of the bank, by the way, has been going on for almost 14 years.
A big bank like Credit Suisse can certainly face a fine of a maximum of 5 million francs, but the damage to its reputation, if it is proven that it laundered the money of the Bulgarian mafia, is something that it will want to prevent at all costs. NCC.
Brando – the head of a criminal network with tentacles around the world
The publication recalls highlights from Brando’s criminal career – the fact that the former fighter heads a worldwide criminal drug trafficking network, and that he has been operating from Italy for years.
It is known, for example, about the transfer of tens of tons of cocaine from South and Central America to Europe. In Switzerland, the network also had its people. In 2017, a Swiss athlete was convicted of money laundering after being found in his car banknotes worth about 4 million francs.
The fate of others couriers of money and drugs is even more tragic. “Brando leaves a long bloody trail,” the NCC wrote, explaining: “In 2014, a potential buyer of large quantities of cocaine in Romania was poisoned after he turned out to be an undercover police officer.
Two years after Dishliev’s death, his mother was ready to testify against Brendo. But the night before the police interrogation, she was shot in her apartment. And this murder remained unsolved, “the Swiss newspaper commented.
Shortly before Brendo was charged last December, the Swiss Federal Prosecutor’s Office announced that he could not be found.
How Brando turned out to be a Ukrainian citizen
But meanwhile, Evelin Banev was discovered: he was detained in Ukraine in early September after arrest warrants were issued in Italy, Bulgaria and Romania. In all these countries, the former drug lord was sentenced to a total of more than 36 years in prison for drug trafficking and membership in a criminal organization.
But just weeks after his arrest, Banev was released. A Ukrainian court has ordered his release from extradition arrest – it turned out that Evelin Banev surprisingly managed to show a Ukrainian passport, and Ukrainian citizens are not extradited to third countries.
However, the accused Zhivko N., heir of the murdered Dishliev and “chief financial director” of the Bulgarian drug mafia, should appear in court in February. Whether Zhivko N. will be able to reach Bellinzona is still unclear.
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