Swiss Whistleblower Provides WikiLeaks With Offshore Banking Documents

A Swiss former banker has provided WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange with confidential information on hundreds of offshore bank accounts. The whistleblower, Rudolf Elmer, used to work in the Cayman Islands, where he headed the office of Julius Baer, a Swiss bank. He was fired in 2002, but is apparently intent on exposing the abuses of the offshore banking industry to the rest of the world. At a news conference today, Elmer gave Assange two yellow and blue disks, holding information on more than 2,000 offshore clients.

Julius Baer wasted no time in going on the offensive against Elmer, who, on Wednesday, will go on trial in Switzerland, facing charges of violating bank secrecy. "After his demands (including financial compensation) in connection with the dismissal could not be satisfied, Mr Elmer embarked in 2004 on a personal intimidation campaign and vendetta against Julius Baer," the bank said in a statement. "The aim of his activities was and is to discredit Julius Baer as well as clients in the eyes of the public."

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Swiss Whistleblower Provides WikiLeaks With Offshore Banking Documents originally appeared on Switched on Mon, 17 Jan 2011 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.switched.com/2011/01/17/swiss-whistleblower-rudolf-elmer-wikileaks-offshore-accounts/

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