Lucifers Banker: The Untold Story of How I Destroyed Swiss Bank Secrecy (Book)
2016
As a private banker working for the largest bank in the
world, UBS, Bradley Birkenfeld was an expert in Switzerland s shell-game of
offshore companies and secret numbered accounts. He wined and dined ultrawealthy
clients whose millions of dollars were hidden away from business partners,
spouses, and tax authorities. As his client list grew, Birkenfeld lived a life
of money, fast cars, and beautiful women, but when he discovered that UBS was
planning to betray him, he blew the whistle to the US Government.
The Department of Justice scorned Birkenfeld s unprecedented whistle-blowing and
attempted to silence him with a conspiracy charge. Yet Birkenfeld would not be
intimidated. He took his secrets to the US Senate, the Securities and Exchange
Commission, and the Internal Revenue Service, where he prevailed.
His bombshell revelations helped the US Treasury recover over $15 billion (and
counting) in back taxes, fines, and penalties from American tax cheats. But
Birkenfeld was shocked to discover that at the same time he was cooperating with
the US Government, the Department of Justice was still doggedly pursuing him. He
was arrested and served thirty months in federal prison. When he emerged, the
Internal Revenue Service gave him a whistle-blower award for $104 million, the
largest such reward in history.
A page-turning real-life thriller, Lucifer s Banker is a fascinating
behind-the-scenes look at the secret Swiss high-net worth banking industry and a
harrowing account of our government s justice system. Readers will follow
Birkenfeld and share his outrage with the incompetence and possiblecorruption at
the Department of Justice, and they will cheer him on as he hammers one of the
most well-known and powerful banks in the world."