Voluntary end to escape Notorious "cocaine kingpin" surrenders to the police
The notorious Bulgarian drug kingpin Ewelin Banew has handed himself in to the police in Sofia after several years on the run. Credit Suisse has already had to answer to the Federal Criminal Court because of him.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- Bulgarian drug lord Ewelin Banev has handed himself in to the police in Sofia after several years on the run.
- He had previously been sentenced to prison in his home country as well as in Italy and Romania.
- Credit Suisse and a former employee were also found guilty of aggravated money laundering in connection with the drug lord's alleged illegal dealings.
The 59-year-old drug kingpin's escape of several years has come to an end - voluntarily. Banev handed himself in to the police at the central prison in the capital Sofia on Monday morning, according to the Bulgarian Ministry of the Interior.
The Bulgarian had been a wanted man since 2013 and the international police authority Interpol had issued a so-called red notice for his arrest and extradition. At the time, he was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison in Bulgaria for money laundering. During the trial, the prison sentence was reduced to six years.
However, Banev never served his sentence because he was not on Bulgarian territory at the time, as the Bulgarian news agency reports.
Banev was caught in Ukraine three years ago
The same applies in Italy and Romania, where Banev was sentenced to 20 years and ten and a half years in prison respectively for drug trafficking and money laundering.
In September 2021, the drug kingpin was caught by the Ukrainian authorities in Kiev. Bulgaria applied for his extradition, but this did not happen as Banev was denied the opportunity to serve the prison sentences in his home country.
He was also released by the Ukrainian authorities as he was in possession of Ukrainian citizenship. From then on, there was no trace of him.
Credit Suisse was accused of money laundering
In Ukraine, Ewelin Banew took part in a trial in Switzerland via video link in 2022. The reason: the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland accused Credit Suisse of storing over 100 million euros belonging to the drug lord between 2004 and 2008, presumably from illegal business in Italy.
Credit Suisse and a former client advisor were found guilty by the Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona. The former employee was sentenced to a conditional custodial sentence of 20 months and a conditional fine for qualified money laundering.
The big bank, on the other hand, had to pay a fine of two million francs and, following a claim for compensation by the court, a further 19 million francs. This sum was lost to the authorities due to CS's internal deficiencies in money laundering prevention, as the NZZ reported at the time.
