UBS Whistleblower Finds Himself in Federal Prison

[tranche]

An article from yesterday on CNBC regarding Bradley Birkenfeld, UBS whistleblower:

It is one of the strangest and most important financial whistleblower cases of all time.

Bradley Birkenfeld once lived the high life as secret Swiss banker at UBS in Geneva. Then he delivered some of the world’s best-kept secrets to the US government, expecting a great reward. And now he sits in federal prison in Pennsylvania.

How’d that happen? It began in 2007, when the American-born Birkenfeld approached the Department of Justice with surprising evidence that UBS was helping alleged American tax cheats hide assets in Switzerland's famous secret banking system.

http://www.cnbc.com//id/41257962

[Fumesucker]

1. No one could have predicted..

That someone blowing the whistle on extremely rich and powerful people would find himself in exceedingly deep doo doo indeed.

Edited for more cowbell..

[northoftheborder]

2. What is the story behind this??? Briefly.

[Enrique]

3. 'White House declined to comment'

(...)

“I believe there's a high-level cover up from the UBS executives, who have penetrated the US government to squash this whole story,” he told me in an interview at the prison. “I mean, does America see what's going on here? It's big business in bed with big politics.”

He also complains that President Barack Obama is too personally close with UBS Americas CEO Robert Wolf, playing golf with the financier at a time when Birkenfeld is pleading with the president for clemency. The White House declined to respond to his remark.

(...)

[The Backlash Cometh]

5. Wowzy.

Obama, please. Don't fall into that trap!

[drmeow]

4. And they wonder why

people are going to Wikileaks!

[bvar22]

6. Obama tougher on Whistle Blowers than previous administration.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/12/us/politics/12leak.html?pagewanted=1&hp


"President Obama's Department of Justice has declared a "war on whistleblowers."

"Dana Jill Simpson, the Alabama attorney who stepped forward in 2007 to provide sworn evidence on how her fellow Republicans were framing Democratic former Gov. Don Siegelman on corruption charges, today released a statement saying that President Obama's Department of Justice has declared a "war on whistleblowers."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/17/us/politics/17signing.html

So much for "openness & transparency".

[dkofos]

7. Charged with tax fraud for withholding information on the real tax frauds.

I bet he will get nothing for his troubles.