Revealed: king of Jordan used Swiss accounts to hoard massive wealth

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 230m Swiss francs (£180m).

But in the decade since, a struggling economy, persistent levels of poverty, high unemployment, cuts to welfare and seemingly ever-present austerity measures have continued to stir resentment across the country. 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.

Lawyers for King Abdullah and Queen Rania said there had been no wrongdoing by the clients, and gave an account of the source of their funds, which they said were compliant with applicable tax law. King Abdullah is not required to pay taxes in Jordan, where the monarch is exempt by law. His lawyers said a large proportion of the funds in the Swiss bank derived from inheritance from his father, King Hussein, and there are no inheritance tax laws in Jordan.

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 $100m luxury property portfolio stretching from Malibu in California to Belgravia in central London.

Additional reporting by David Pegg. Credit Suisse response to Suisse secrets disclosures available here.