New Delhi, Feb 21 : King Abdullah II of Jordan opened two new accounts with Credit Suisse in 2011, the Swiss bank that had discreetly served the region’s well-heeled for decades, The Guardian reported.
Abdullah, one of the world’s longest-serving current monarchs, had chosen a banker that shared his approach to secrecy, particularly surrounding his personal wealth.
Over the next five years, the king was the beneficial owner of at least six accounts with Credit Suisse, while his wife, Queen Rania, had another, the report said.
According to a massive trove of data leaked from the bank that names both royals as account holders, one account would later be worth a remarkable 230 m Swiss francs (£180 m).
The revelations come at an uncomfortable time for King Abdullah and his family, surfacing six months after the monarch featured prominently in the leak of the biggest ever trove of offshore data, the Pandora papers, which revealed he had acquired a $100 millionm luxury property portfolio stretching from Malibu in California to Belgravia in central London, The Guardian reported.
Details of more offshore accounts will add to allegations that Jordan’s king of 22 years lives a life disconnected from the demanding realities faced by most of its citizens, who live by a different set of rules, the report said.
One particular gripe has been the juxtaposition between the apparent wealth of the king and the constant grind endured by most citizens just to get by.
As the IMF agreed to bail out Jordan, on the condition that its people tighten their collective belts, the king was moving enormous amounts between his Swiss accounts, the report said.(IANS)