Task Force Blog

Issues in the News

UBS Whistleblower Gets Rewarded With Prison Time: Ann Woolner

August 26, 2009

Commentary by Ann Woolner

Bloomberg

Bloomberg — If he had kept his mouth shut and his head low, Bradley Birkenfeld would be a free man today. He didn’t, so now the former UBS AG banker wears an electronic bracelet on his ankle and, beginning in January, will spend three years and four months in a federal penitentiary.

He’s headed for prison even though he blew the whistle on a multibillion-dollar international tax fraud conspiracy. Birkenfeld’s information let the U.S. pierce Swiss bank secrecy laws as never before possible.

Continue reading at Bloomberg.com

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