Prosecutor Targets Credit Suisse Staff in Spygate Affair

(Bloomberg) -- Zurich’s public prosecutor is investigating Credit Suisse Group AG employees who allegedly spied on former wealth management head Iqbal Khan, Tages-Anzeiger newspaper reported.

The prosecutor confiscated mobile phones and computers last Tuesday as part of the investigation and is considering other targets in addition to the private detectives who tailed Khan before he joined rival UBS Group AG, the newspaper reported, citing documents related to the case.

The prosecutor is also investigating who ordered the spying on Khan and has “sufficient suspicion” that current Credit Suisse employees commissioned it, T-A said in a story published Saturday.

“We are in contact with the prosecutor and respond to its inquiries,” a spokeswoman for Credit Suisse said in an emailed statement in response to Bloomberg’s inquiries about the report.

No one answered the phone at the Zurich prosecutor’s office on Saturday outside of regular business hours. Two spokespersons from the prosecutor’s office didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Chief Operating Officer Pierre-Olivier Bouee resigned and assumed responsibility for ordering the spying, which Credit Suisse said “resulted in severe reputational damage to the bank.” Chief Executive Officer Tidjane Thiam was cleared of any responsibility in the scandal.

Khan began his new job as co-head of wealth management at UBS this week.

To contact the reporter on this story: Andy Hoffman in Geneva at ahoffman31@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: James Herron at jherron9@bloomberg.net, Zoe Schneeweiss, Andre Janse van Vuuren

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