The Austrian Bank Job

Credit: AP Photo/Ronald Zak
Published: October 23, 2019

When it came to stripping assets from their financial institutions, Eastern European bankers found the infrastructure they needed in a century-old Austrian bank.

Meinl Bank now faces permanent loss of its license and the dealings they facilitated are being investigated in at least four countries.

It’s an ignoble end for a venerable institution - and one that leaves taxpayers in Ukraine, Latvia and Lithuania on the hook. Some blame Austrian authorities for being too slow to act.

Stories

The Vienna Bank Job

A storied bank helped Eastern European bankers loot their own institutions.

18 November 2019 Read the article

Banker On The Run

When Lithuania’s AB Bankas Snoras imploded in 2011, its main shareholders, Vladimir Antonov and Raimondas Baranauskas, had already left for the United Kingdom, where Antonov had accomplished a long-held dream to take over the Portsmouth Football Club.

18 November 2019 Read the article

The Meinl Legacy

From humble roots in a Vienna grocery store nearly 160 years ago, Austria's Meinl family has operated successful food stores, coffee shops and financial service businesses. Here's a look at how the Meinl empire and its iconic Meinl Bank have changed over five generations.

CREDIT: profil and Laura Mallene (OCCRP)

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