Revelations about bank accounts in Switzerland “burn” the King of Jordan, after the scandal with the Pandora Papers

In 2011, as popular uprisings echoed in the Middle East, a monarch decided to make some banking moves. At some point that year, as Egypt and Syria languished in the face of major political protests, Jordan’s King Abdullah II opened two new accounts at the Swiss bank Credit Suisse.

Abdullah, one of the longest-serving monarchs in the world, with the help of a banker for extreme secrecy, especially around his personal fortune, managed for the next five years to be the owner of at least six Credit Suisse accounts, while his wife, Queen Rania, had another account.

According to a huge amount of data leaked from the bank that names both members of the royal family as account holders, one account contained the remarkable amount of 230 million Swiss francs.

The uprisings, known as the Arab Spring, led to the overthrow of leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen, and a violent, protracted war broke out in Syria.

However, since then, the economy, persistent poverty levels, high unemployment, welfare cuts and the seemingly ever-present austerity measures have continued to cause discontent throughout the country. As the IMF agreed to bail out Jordan, on the condition that its people tighten their collective belts, the king was moving huge sums between his Swiss accounts.

Credit Suisse data contains details of 18,000 bank accounts leaked to the Süddeutsche Zeitung by an informant who said Swiss banking secrecy laws were “immoral”. The data was reported to the Guardian and 47 other media outlets as part of a global investigation called Suisse Secrets.

King Abdullah’s and Queen Rania’s lawyers said there had been no wrongdoing on the part of clients and gave an account of the source of their funds, which they said complied with applicable tax law. King Abdullah is not required to pay taxes in Jordan. His lawyers told him that much of the money in the Swiss bank came from an inheritance from his father, King Hussein, and that there were no inheritance tax laws in Jordan.

The revelations rain down after the data for the Pandora Papers.

Following the publication of the Pandora documents, the Jordanian intelligence service moved quickly to block online access to news items detailing revelations about the king’s wealth. The few journalists who defied the ban were questioned.

Some were reminded of their “patriotic duties” to Jordan. Others were intimidated into not speaking out. The king’s lawyers said the allegations of media repression in Jordan had been “refuted” following the release of the documents.

However, there is no indication that King Abdullah has broken the law by amassing wealth in offshore countries. Nor is there any indication of wrongdoing by Credit Suisse.

However, the revelations will raise new questions about the source of Abdullah’s wealth in a country backed annually by foreign aid.

Through his lawyers, King Abdullah said only one of Credit Suisse’s accounts remained open.

They said they consisted of personal investment companies (PICs) set up as trust funds for the royal couple’s children. They also said that one of the accounts had revenue from the sale of a “large wide-body aircraft. The king is known to use at least two private jets.

His lawyers said that “a significant percentage” of his personal fortune was used to fund royal initiatives aimed at personalizing the social and economic needs of Jordanian citizens, as well as the restoration of important mosques.

Daut Qutab, director general of the Amman-based Community Media Network, predicted that the revelations would anger Jordanians, especially the unemployed youth. “The king and the government will face protests and demonstrations,” he said.

Guardian

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