"With the benefit of hindsight sharpened by the view from the Pennsylvania prison where he began serving three-plus years in January, Mr. [Bradley] Birkenfeld says he is an informant who blew on the wrong whistle. ... The former UBS AG banker was the central informant in an investigation that led to a wide-ranging IRS crackdown on secret offshore bank accounts. That he also is the only person so far to be sentenced to substantial prison time--40 months, for conspiring to defraud the US government--has made Mr. Birkenfeld a popular hero in some corners of the tax community, though others disagree. ... At his sentencing hearing in August, Justice Department [sic] prosecutor Kevin Downing said: 'I will say that without Mr. Birkenfeld walking into the door of the Department of Justice [sic] in the summer of 2007, I doubt as of today that thus massive fraud scheme would have been discovered by the US government.' ... Mr. Birkenfeld says he came to the Justice Department [sic] ready to tell everything, and asked the agency to subpoena him so that he wouldn't break the law by naming names", Arden Dale at the WSJ, 9 April 2010, link:
What can you say? Who at the misnamed Justice Department didn't want this case prosecuted? Why? When the IRS wants information, it issues a subpoena. What's going on here?
1 comment:
It's hard to imagine how chilling this is for other people who might want to blow the whistle...
Poor Mr. Birkenfeld.
Justice Department? Hahahaaha!
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