Ivanishvili Wins Legal Battle Against Credit Suisse in Final Instance
Georgian Dream founder and billionaire honorary chairman Bidzina Ivanishvili won his long-running legal battle against Credit Suisse at the third instance, as London’s Privy Council on November 24 issued a final ruling in his favor, upholding a 2022 Bermuda Supreme Court decision that found Credit Suisse Life Ltd. defrauded him of USD 607 million.
Credit Suisse appealed the 2022 Bermuda ruling in 2024. With today’s decision, the London Privy Council unanimously dismissed the appeal on all issues except for determining the correct start date for the assessment of damages.
The dispute stems from former Credit Suisse adviser Patrice Lescaudron, who defrauded Ivanishvili and other clients of millions. Ivanishvili’s legal team has argued that such a scheme could not have been carried out without others at the bank being aware of it.
Ivanishvili, however, does not expect to receive the money, as in a November 20 Facebook post, his lawyer Temo Tsikvadze cited the U.S. sanctions against him and accused the “deep state” of “political persecution” and “bandit-style racketeering.”
Ivanishvili first raised concerns about restricted access to his funds at a Swiss bank in spring 2022, shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and nearly two years before the U.S. sanctioned him. At the time, Georgian Dream officials said the bank cited “geopolitical circumstances” in limiting his access, using the episode to advance a conspiracy theory that linked Ivanishvili’s banking problems to alleged Western attempts to draw Georgia into the war with Russia.
His banking dispute soon became a central theme for People Power, a group of former GD lawmakers who formally split from the ruling party to push harder-line narratives. The group also spearheaded the first, later-abandoned version of the foreign agents law in 2023. The issue, described by Ivanishvili’s allies as “de facto sanctions,” was among the major factors in the worsening of Tbilisi’s relations with the United States.
In his recent statement, Tsikvadze, Ivanishvili’s lawyer, also claimed that the Swiss bank has restricted access to the accounts of Ivanishvili’s family members.
“If, in Bidzina Ivanishvili’s case, the Swiss bank uses U.S. sanctions – albeit in a completely absurd manner – as a pretext, it cannot and will not say anything about why it has seized the funds of his spouse and children,” Tsikvadze said.
Also Read:
- 28/05/2025 – Ivanishvili Says Sanctions, “Blackmail” Behind His Refusal to Meet U.S. Diplomat
- 20/01/2025 – Ivanishvili To Sue Swiss Bank Julius Baer
- 26/05/2023 – Singapore Court Orders Credit Suisse to Pay $926M to Bidzina Ivanishvili
- 10/05/2022 – As Ivanishvili Battles Swiss Bank, GD Hints at U.S. Pushing Georgia into War