Swiss account details passed to Wikileaks
The Swiss bank account details of 2,000 prominent politicians, multinationals and financial firms have been passed to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange by the former chief operating officer of the Cayman Islands branch of Swiss bank Julius Baer, Rudolf Elmer.
Elmer, who was fired in 2002, handed over two discs of data relating to transactions carried out between 1990 and 2009 after receiving the information from former colleagues at the bank.
It is thought the data could contain information relating to tax invasion, concealment of criminal proceeds and the assets of politicians.
Assange, who is currently on bail and confined to the UK pending an extradition request, has promised “full revelation” of the details in as little as two weeks following a vetting process.
Elmer said he was acting to expose the “system”, alleged routes for high worth individuals to funnel ill gotten gains or evade tax by taking advantage of off shore havens.
Since going public Elmer claims to have been intimidated by the authorities, including a 30 day stint in a Swiss prison for violating banking rules, but agreed to take responsibility for the latest leaks to protect his sources.