A former Credit Suisse Group AG banker pleaded guilty on Monday to a U.S. charge that she helped launder money from a kickback scheme involving $2 billion in loans to state-owned companies in Mozambique.
37-year-old Detelina Subeva pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering conspiracy before U.S. District Judge William Kuntz in Brooklyn, New York. She is one of three Credit Suisse bankers charged by U.S. prosecutors in January with taking part in the scheme.
Credit Suisse has said that the defendants hid their contact from the bank.
Subeva, a Bulgarian citizen, said that in 2013 her boss, Andrew Pearse, told her he had received a $1 million kickback in connection with a $372 million loan to a Mozambican state-owned company. She said the kickback came from Privinvest, an Abu Dhabi-based company that contracted with Mozambican state-owned companies.
Subeva said Pearse transferred about $200,000 of the kickback to her bank account.
“I agreed to accept and keep these monies knowing that they were the proceeds of illegal activity,” Subeva said.
Subeva, who came to New York from London to face the charges voluntarily, was released on bail. There was no mention at the hearing of an agreement by Subeva to cooperate with prosecutors.
