Tonight on CBS FBI: International airs with an all-new Tuesday, May 9, 2023 season 2 episode 20, “A Tradition of Secrets” and we have your FBI: International recap below. In tonight’s FBI season 2 episode 20 as per the CBS synopsis, “After a cybersecurity expert robs one of Switzerland’s largest and most secretive banks, the Fly Team is called to track down the fugitive. Also, Smitty’s loyalty is put to the test.”
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In tonight’s FBI International episode, Smitty got a late night call from her brother. He desperately needed her help. He asked her to come to Switzerland because he was in some trouble and she did come, but not alone. Smitty brought with her the whole fly team. Her brother was in charge of security at Bank Geneva.
The largest Bank in Switzerland. Only someone stole something from the bank. They didn’t steal money or assets. They just got a list detailing the clients names as well as what they had hidden in the bank. This list could potentially be the next Panama Papers. And the US Government was interested because normally Switzerland was so secretive that they would happily help American tax evaders hide their money there.
Forrester got permission from his government to assist Smitty. They wanted that list. They didn’t actually want to help Smitty’s brother, Christopher. Christopher wanted to recover the list. He wanted to keep the theft under wraps. He was part of the security detail that was supposed to ensure a situation like this never happened. The only reason this list now exists is because the cybersecurity specialist they hired. They hired Phillipe Morand six months ago. He was supposed to sure up the security. And instead he’s the one that compiled the list.
Phillipe’s security program was in fact stealing data every night for the full six months. The bank likes to hide any criminal activity by connecting accounts to numbers and keeping a nice distance between those numbers to names. But Phillipe’s program accessed everything until he now has a fully readable list with both names and account numbers. He also wanted to use that information into blackmailing the Swiss government into arresting the bankers guilty of so many crimes. Phillipe left behind a video before he went on the run with his wife. The video listed his motives.
No one even knew he had a wife. He never mentioned Anne-Marie in the six months he worked at the bank. He befriended some of those people and they never suspected his other life. Phillipe’s video asking the government to arrest the bankers also detailed that his wife knew nothing about his criminal activity. She was an American. She has dual citizenship. The Swiss government was worried that Phillipe would escape to the US with his list. They were lucky that Phillipe chose a different plan.
Phillipe chose to split up from his wife. He told her that they were looking for a couple. He claimed it would be easier for her to go to South Africa alone and that they would meet up at the airport. The Swiss government found Anne-Marie at the airport. She had a fake passport. She was arrested. She was questioned and she denied knowing about her husband’s crime though she admitted he was justified if he did them. She said that Phillipe found out the bank was hiding criminal activity. He told her that he tried to report it to the bank’s security and his life was threatened.
Anne-Marie even named the man that threatened to kill him. She said it was Smitty’s brother, Christopher. Christopher hadn’t been entirely honest with Smitty. He failed to mention that Phillipe did try to report criminal activity only he told Phillipe that the bank would figuratively kill him. He didn’t mean it as an actual threat or so he claims. Christopher said that Phillipe wanted to be paid to kept quiet. He told his sister that it was a shakedown and that he didn’t fall for it. And he hadn’t told Smitty any of this until she confronted him.
Smitty’s brother couldn’t be trusted. She was the one person that couldn’t see that. The FBI had to tell their Attorney General about what happened and the AG ordered that Smitty be sidelined. They said their American interests went against Europol’s interest. Europol was interested in protecting the Swiss government. Smitty in particular was interested in protecting her brother. She knew that Christopher would do anything for profit. He was a sleaze. She knew that about him and still she tried to justify his actions.
When Smitty heard that the Americans wanted to bench her, she begged to be let in. They told her that they found Phillipe and she bought them time by lying to the Swiss government for them. Christopher had been there when she lied. He recognized that look on her face. He asked her about it and she told him that the Americans did find Phillipe. She just didn’t say where. Christopher then told the Swiss government about it. He wanted Phillipe to be arrested and for that list to disappear and so he tried to force his sister’s hand. And she refused to bend.
The FBI found Phillipe with his wife’s help. Phillipe had given her a bad fake passport because he wanted her to get arrested. He’s been cheating on her with a woman he met in South Africa and he wanted to start over with Lina. Phillipe didn’t care about the greater good. He wanted to get rich from selling the list. After the FBI found him, Phillipe told them that he was willing to give the Americans the list in exchange for immunity as well as thirty million dollars. He wanted to get rich and this was the answer for him.
The new guy had figured out his real motives. Powell realized that Phillipe wasn’t who he pretended to be in the video. He actually was just out for himself and thankfully Christopher was the one that turned out to be a hero. His bosses at the bank tried to use his life to get Smitty to tell them where Phillipe was, but she fought back and Forrester arrived in time to save both her and her brother. And Christopher told his sister that he was willing to testify against his former employers. He knew some of the names on the list and their account information. He was prepared to testify against them now that they tried to kill him.
His compliance meant they didn’t need Phillipe anymore. He was handed over to Europol. They also rescued his wife from the Swiss prison and she was sent back to the United States. So, mostly everyone got what they wanted. Christopher gets to start over somewhere else. Anne-Marie got to escape prison. The Swiss government was forced to arrest the bankers. It was just Phillipe who lost out on the money, the immunity and the girl since his affair partner dumped him to protect herself.
And so Vo invited Powell to come stay with her while he was looking for a new place. It was her way of thanking for a job well-done and he had surprised her because she hadn’t thought he’d last a week.
THE END!
