A former Credit Suisse executive says she was spied on - months after a top banker made similar accusations
- A former Credit Suisse executive told bank officials and US authorities she believes she was surveilled in July 2017 while in a dispute with the firm, The Wall Street Journal reported.
- The report comes four months after Credit Suisse hired detectives to follow former star banker Iqbal Khan. The ex-Credit Suisse executive was followed before joining rival firm UBS, even entering a physical altercation with his pursuers after they tried to take his phone.
- Colleen Graham, who used to co-head a joint venture between Credit Suisse and Palantir, reached out to the bank's chairman and CEO after hearing of Khan's encounter, according to The Journal.
- Graham alleges the two companies withheld her 2016 bonus, hinted at firing her, blocked her from meetings, and even had her followed after she refused to manipulate the joint venture's revenue figures.
- Credit Suisse denies the claims, saying its investigations into the allegations "found them to be entirely baseless."
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A former Credit Suisse executive told bank officials and US authorities she believes she was spied on while in quarreling with the bank in July 2017, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Colleen Graham, who used to co-head a joint venture between Credit Suisse and data-mining firm Palantir, said she believes a woman followed her for three days, according to The Journal. Graham said she thought the spying was in retaliation over her position on an accounting error at the business.
The report comes four months after Credit Suisse hired detectives to follow former star banker Iqbal Khan, Bloomberg first reported September 22. The ex-Credit Suisse executive was followed before joining rival bank UBS, and entered a physical altercation with his pursuers after they tried to take his phone.
Graham reached out to Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam, Chairman Urs Rohner, and board member John Tiner regarding her tailing after she heard of Khan's encounter, according to The Journal. She asked the executives to investigate her case and share it with regulatory authorities.
The former executive first raised the alleged surveillance with the bank in a November 2017 whistleblower complaint. Graham alleged Credit Suisse and data-mining firm Palantir urged her to "distort the facts" of her business at the bank's joint venture to boost its 2016 revenue, according to The Journal.
Graham said she was retaliated against for her refusal, with the two companies barring her from meetings, withholding her 2016 bonus, and making "thinly veiled threats" to fire her, The Journal reported. The former executive's complaint also detailed how she noticed a woman follow her for three days, even tailing her to a job interview. Graham alleged Credit Suisse and Palantir "interfered" with her chance at getting the job, The Journal reported.
Credit Suisse "fully prevailed on this matter multiple times, in separate venues," corporate communications head Karina Byrne said in a statement. She added that the firm's "thorough and comprehensive" investigations found Graham's allegations "to be entirely baseless."
"We will continue to vigorously defend this matter and refute all these allegations in any form," Byrne said.
The US Labor Department's administrative court is expected to hear Graham's whistleblowing case in early 2020, according to The Journal.
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