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January 18, 2011

Former Banker Hands Offshore Account Data to WikiLeaks 
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A former Swiss banker has handed over a trove of data on offshore
banking to the online whistleblower Wiki Leaks. At a news conference in
London, Rudolf Elmer gave Wiki Leaks founder Julian Assange two compact
discs containing information on some 2,000 offshore account holders.

Rudolf Elmer: "I'm against the system. I know how the system works, and
I know that from a day-to-day business. So, from that point of view, I
want to let society know what I do know and how this system works,
because it's damaging our society in a way that money is moved back
away, for instance, from financial institutions, multinational
conglomerates, high-net-worth individuals. The money is hided [hidden]
in offshore centers, so secrecy jurisdictions, technically correct."

Elmer headed the Cayman Islands office of the bank Julius Baer until his
firing in 2002. He is scheduled to go on trial in Switzerland this week
on allegations of breaching bank secrecy. Assange said Wiki Leaks would
carefully review the material before a potential release.

Julian Assange: "We will treat this information like all other
information we get. So, yes, I presume, once we've looked at the data,
assuming it's not anomalous, assuming it's like everything else we
receive, yes, there will be a full revelation."



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