The cooperation of a former Julius Baer private banker with U.S. officials in a money-laundering probe has sparked the Swiss private bank to launch its own probe.
Matthias Krull, Julius Baer's former «onboarding superstar» in Latin America, is accused of helping Venezuelan businessmen launder money.
The private banker helped rinse as much as $1.2 billion of funds from state-backed oil firm PDVSA, as finews.com reported last week. German-born Krull was snapped up by officials in July in Miami, and agreed to cooperate with U.S. justice officials last week.
Julius Baer, for whom Krull worked for 11 years, is starting its own investigation into the alleged dealings, CEO Bernhard Hodler said at a conference in Zurich. Swiss financial regulator Finma had already been probing the bank over PDVSA.
PEP Clients
In his cooperation, the 44-year-old Krull admitted that he acquired Venezuelan clients including Francisco Convit Guruceaga, who stands accused of money-laundering. Krull, who spent part of his school years in Caracas, enjoyed excellent relationships to Venezuela's economic elite and so-called PEPs, or «politically exposed persons».
The banker and several of his team defected for Genevan private bank Gonet in June. Krull never began at the rival Swiss bank.
