Numbered Vault
Cases unlock in order, like levels. This is case 24 of 100.
Keller & Söhne Private Bank, Bahnhofstrasse, Zurich, Monday, 9:15 am. At the reading of industrialist Konrad Brandt's will, the notary opened numbered safe deposit box 0417. The sealed envelope with the codicil to the will was gone.
The box only opens with two keys: the holder's and the bank's master key. The last recorded visit was on Friday, at 4:00 pm. The bank closed at 6:00 pm and only reopened today.
No one knows what the codicil said. The family swears it changed the inheritance.
Three people had a way to reach the box that weekend. One of them took the envelope.
The bank's meeting room, a walnut table, curtains drawn over the Bahnhofstrasse.
Suspects
Reto FässlerAccount manager, 46
Arben KrasniqiNight security guard, 52
Cordula BrandtKonrad's daughter and heir, 31
The real case
The Credit Suisse banker who drained clients' fortunes
Geneva, Switzerland, 2008 to 2018
This case is a work of fiction. The characters, names, places and events in the game do not portray real people. The account below is a factual summary, based on public sources, of the case that served as inspiration.
For almost a decade, a Credit Suisse relationship manager in Geneva, in charge of Eastern European clients, forged signatures and moved money between his own clients' accounts to cover losses and personal investments. The shortfall exceeded 150 million dollars and affected, among others, a former prime minister of Georgia.
The scheme only came to light in 2015, when markets fell and the holes became impossible to hide. The banker was sentenced in 2018 to five years in prison; in 2022 a Bermuda court ordered the bank to compensate the client for failing to supervise its employee.
The game borrows the private banker who siphons millions from a wealthy client over the years with forged documents. Characters, crime and outcome are fiction.
Sources
Case glossary
Words from this case you might not know.
- codicil
- A legal document that adds to, changes or revokes parts of an existing will.
- notary
- In Swiss and other civil law systems, a legal officer who drafts and certifies documents such as wills and contracts.
- Bahnhofstrasse
- Zurich's main downtown street, lined with luxury shops and the headquarters of major banks.