Whistleblower whose leaks exposed bank tax evasion jailed for five years

A whistleblower whose disclosures uncorked the Swissleaks scandal of bank-supported tax evasion, was jailed for five years on Friday. IT specialist Herve Falciani was convicted of industrial espionage by a federal court in the Swiss town of Bellinzona. The 43-year-old had refused to travel to Switzerland for the trial. As a result, the former HSBC employee is unlikely to serve any jail time as long as he stays in France, which does not extradite its citizens.

It is not about money. I don’t intend to become rich

Herve Falciani

in 2008, Falcani leaked a cache of documents allegedly indicating HSBC’s Swiss private banking arm helped more than 120,000 clients hide €180.6bn ($205bn) from tax authorities. The French-Italian has been celebrated as a whistleblower by some but Swiss authorities claimed he was motivated by money, saying he wanted to sell the data he stole. Falciani has denied the claim, insisting he wanted to expose how banks supported tax evasion and money laundering.

herve facliani Business