The client rosters of Swiss banks are some of the most closely guarded secrets in the world and they protect the identities of some of the planet's richest people.

The bank held hundreds of millions of dollars for heads of state, intelligence officials, businessmen and human rights abusers, among many others, according to the leaked data.

A whistle-blower leaked data on more than 18,000 bank accounts, collectively holding more than $100 billion, to a German newspaper. The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project and 46 other news organizations around the world received the data from the newspaper.

The current operations of the bank are not covered by the data, which covers accounts that were open from the 1940s until the 2010s.

King Abdullah II of Jordan and the two sons of Hosni Mubarak were listed as holding millions of dollars in Credit Suisse accounts. The sons of a Pakistani intelligence chief who helped funnel billions of dollars from the United States and other countries to the mujahedeen in Afghanistan in the 1980s were among the account holders.

The leak shows that Credit Suisse opened accounts for the ultrawealthy and also people with questionable histories who would have been obvious to anyone who ran their names through a search engine.

Daniel Thelesklaf, the former head of Switzerland's anti-money laundering agency, said that Swiss banks have faced legal prohibitions on taking money linked to criminal activity. He said that the law hasn't been enforced.

Many of the accounts in the leak date back decades, according to a spokeswoman for the bank.

Many of the accounts identified in the leaked database have already been closed.

Leaked documents show that King Abdullah II of Jordan was one of Credit Suisse’s clients.
ImageLeaked documents show that King Abdullah II of Jordan was one of Credit Suisse’s clients.
Leaked documents show that King Abdullah II of Jordan was one of Credit Suisse’s clients.Credit...Pool photo by Justin Lane

The leak appears to be part of a concerted effort to undermine the bank and the Swiss financial marketplace, which has undergone significant changes over the last several years.

The Panama Papers, the Paradise Papers, and the Pandora Papers have all been leaked. The work of banks, law firms, and offshore financial-service providers that allow wealthy people and institutions to move huge sums of money, mostly outside the purview of tax collectors or law enforcement, is revealed in all of them.

Legal and political scrutiny of the Swiss banking industry is likely to intensify as a result of the new disclosures. The bank is reeling from the ousting of its two top executives.

Switzerland has long been a place where people looking to hide money can go. In the past decade, that has made the country's largest banks, especially its two giants, Credit Suisse and UBS, a target for the authorities in the United States and elsewhere who are trying to crack down on tax evasion.

Credit Suisse pleaded guilty to conspiring to help Americans file false tax returns and agreed to pay fines, penalties and money back.

The bank paid the Justice Department $5.3 billion to settle allegations about its marketing of mortgage-backed securities. It agreed to pay $475 million to resolve an investigation into a kickback and bribe scheme. Credit Suisse is accused of allowing drug traffickers to move millions of dollars through the bank.

The Senate Finance Committee and the Justice Department are looking into the matter.

Several former Credit Suisse employees told federal prosecutors late last year that the bank continued to hide hundreds of millions of dollars for clients after pleading guilty to tax evasion, according to a whistle-blower lawsuit filed last year by a former bank official and a lawyer for other former employees. The suit was dismissed because the Justice Department said it was threatening to interfere with discussions about dealing with Swiss bank accounts held by U.S. citizens.

More than 18,000 bank accounts were involved in the latest leak, but no public figures are included.

Credit Suisse continued to do business with customers even after they were flagged for suspicious activity.

The former vice minister of energy in Venezuela was the account holder.

Employees in Credit Suisse's compliance department were wary of doing business with him. A 2008 report by an outside due-diligence firm detailing corruption allegations involving Mr. Villalobos and Venezuela's state-owned oil company was obtained by the media consortium. The report was reviewed by The Times.

The leaked bank data shows that Credit Suisse opened an account for him in 2011. The account held as much as $10 million.

Lawyers for Mr. Villalobos didn't respond to requests for comment.

There were 25 Credit Suisse accounts, containing a total of about $270 million, that belonged to people accused of being involved in a wide-ranging conspiracy surrounding Venezuela's oil company. The accounts were closed by the time criminal charges were filed after the scandal became public.

The bank kept accounts open for a Zimbabwean businessman who was blacklisted by the U.S. and European authorities for his ties to the government of the country. After the sanctions were imposed, the accounts stayed open.

Many accounts were linked to government officials in the Middle East and beyond. The data raises questions about how public officials and their relatives accumulate wealth.

Alaa and Gamal Mubarak, sons of former President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, stood trial in Cairo in 2020 on charges of illicit share trading.
ImageAlaa and Gamal Mubarak, sons of former President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, stood trial in Cairo in 2020 on charges of illicit share trading.
Alaa and Gamal Mubarak, sons of former President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, stood trial in Cairo in 2020 on charges of illicit share trading.Credit...Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

One of the accounts held by the sons of Hosni Mubarak was worth $196 million.

The lawyers for the Mubaraks said in a statement to The New York Times that there was a suggestion that the assets of the Mubaraks weretainted by illegality or favoritism.

The statement said that any assets they held were from their successful professional business activities.

The King of Jordan had six accounts, one of which had a balance of $224 million.

The Royal Hashemite Court said in a statement that there had been no wrongdoing in relation to the bank accounts. The portion of the king's private wealth that was held by them was used for personal expenses, royal projects to help Jordanians and the maintenance of Islamic holy sites in Jerusalem.

Senior intelligence officials and their children from countries that cooperated with the United States in the war on terrorism had money stashed at Credit Suisse.

Billions of dollars in cash and other aid from the United States and other countries was funneled to the mujahedeen in Afghanistan to support their fight against the Soviet Union.

In 1985 President Ronald Reagan called for more oversight of the aid going into Afghanistan, and an account was opened in the name of three General Khan's sons. The general did not face charges of stealing aid money. The account would grow to $3.7 million years later, according to leaked records.

The general's sons, Akbar and Haroon Khan, did not respond to requests for comment from the reporting project. In a text message, a third son, Ghazi Khan, said that the information about the accounts was not correct.

Omar Suleiman, Egypt’s once-powerful intelligence chief, in Cairo in 2012.
ImageOmar Suleiman, Egypt’s once-powerful intelligence chief, in Cairo in 2012.
Omar Suleiman, Egypt’s once-powerful intelligence chief, in Cairo in 2012.Credit...Khaled Elfiqi/European Pressphoto Agency

The head of Jordan's intelligence agency opened an account in the year 2003 that the United States invaded Iraq to topple Saddam Hussein.

The account was closed after Mr. Kheir died.

The family of Mr. Mubarak had an account as well. Mr. Suleiman died in 2012 The reporting project was unsuccessful in reaching his family.

A whistle-blower gave the leaked records to Germany's Süddeutsche Zeitung more than a year ago. None of the news organizations collaborating on the project were based in Switzerland, where a law restricted journalists from writing articles based on internal bank data.

The whistle-blower said in a statement that Swiss bank-secrecy laws were immoral.

The whistle-blower said that the pretext of protecting financial privacy was just a fig leaf.

Kitty Bennett contributed research.