PARIS: Credit Suisse handled billions of dollars in dirty money for decades, an international media investigation based on a massive data leak claimed on Sunday, in the latest setback for Switzerland’s second-largest bank.

The bank held more than $8 billion (seven billion euros) in accounts of criminals, dictators and human rights abusers, among others, according to the investigation by a group comprising dozens of media organisations. Credit Suisse rejected the “allegations and insinuations”, saying in a statement that many of the issues raised were historical, some dating back more than 70 years.

According to the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), a non-profit journalism group, the “Suisse Secrets” investigation began when an anonymous source shared bank data with German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung more than a year ago.

That information, covering accounts collectively worth $100 billion at their highest point, was trawled through by 48 media outlets worldwide, including The New York Times, Le Monde and The Guardian.