Lucifer's Banker
Author: Bradley C. Birkenfeld
Publisher: N.A
ISBN: 9781626343719
Category:
Page: N.A
View: 8350
As a private banker working for the largest bank in the world (UBS), Brad 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 then he discovered that UBS was planning to betray him, so he blew the whistle to the US Government. The Department of Justice scorned Birkenfeld s unprecedented whistleblowing and attempted to silence him with a single charge of conspiracy. Yet Birkenfeld would not be intimidated. He took his secrets to the US Senate, Securities and Exchange Commission and the Internal Revenue Service, where he prevailed. His bombshell revelations helped the US Treasury recover over $12 billion 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, pled guilty, and served 31 months in federal prison. When he emerged, the Internal Revenue Service gave him a whistle-blower award for $104 million, the largest such payout 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 as they will 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."