A former managing director at Credit Suisse Group AG filed a £68 million lawsuit against the lender for allegedly failing to protect him after he was arrested and convicted in Romania on charges of espionage, Bloomberg News reported.

Vadim Benyatov was arrested in Romania in 2006 while working for Credit Suisse on the privatization of state utility companies. He was dismissed by the bank after he was convicted and sentenced by the Romanian Supreme Court to 4.5 years in prison in 2015, but he never served his sentence since he left Romania as a fugitive, according to the report.

Benyatov is suing the bank for failing to intervene during the nine-year legal proceedings and is seeking damages from lost earnings, saying he is unable to obtain regulatory clearance to work as a senior finance professional or find another job due to the conviction.

Credit Suisse is seeking for early dismissal of the lawsuit, arguing that it covered Benyatov's legal fees and continued to pay his salary during his ordeal, the report noted.