Washington, D.C. January 15, 2010. Leading national and international anti-corruption groups have joined the National Whistleblowers Center (NWC) in a clemency campaign on behalf of UBS whistleblower Bradley Birkenfeld.  In an open letter to President Obama, the groups request a presidential pardon for Mr. Birkenfeld, or commutation of his prison sentence to time served in order to "reverse the devastating impact Mr. Birkenfeld's case will have on international law enforcement efforts."

The National Whistleblowers Center, with support from public interest groups, is urging people to personally endorse the clemency campaign for Mr. Birkenfeld through their TAKE ACTION program. 

Minersville, PA. January 8, 2010. At 2 pm today UBS whistleblower Bradley Birkenfeld surrendered to U.S. authorities and commenced serving a three-year and four-month sentence at the Schuylkill County Federal Correctional Institution in Minersville, Pennsylvania.

Stephen M. Kohn, the Executive Director of the National Whistleblower Center and one of Mr. Birkenfeld’s attorneys issued the following statement:

“An American tragedy.  A disgraceful miscarriage of justice. An insult to every honest American who must work hard and pay their taxes.  The imprisonment of Bradley Birkenfeld, the most important tax whistleblower in history, is shocking and unjustified. This decision is not only grossly unfair and personally harmful to Mr. Birkenfeld, it will also have a radical chilling effect on the willingness of other bankers to step forward and expose fraud. This is devastating to any efforts to expose the use of illegal offshore bank accounts by criminals who want to avoid taxes.” 

TAKE ACTION! PUBLIC SUPPORT URGENTLY NEEDED!

Washington, D.C. January 7, 2010. UBS whistleblower Bradley Birkenfeld will surrender to U.S. authorities and report to Schuylkill County Federal Correctional Institution in Minersville, Pennsylvania, at 2pm, Friday, January 8, 2010.

Prior to entering the penitentiary, at approximately 1:15 pm, Mr. Birkenfeld and his counsel will make brief public remarks.

Mr. Birkenfeld will commence serving a 40-month sentence as a direct result of blowing the whistle on one of the largest tax fraud schemes in U.S. history, which has resulted in UBS bank paying a $780 million dollar penalty to the United States, and over 14,000 “taxpayers” voluntarily disclosing their illegal offshore accounts. Despite the fact that Mr. Birkenfeld’s disclosures have resulted in a multi-billion dollar net-gain to American taxpayers, and have forced UBS bank to shut down a massive illegal offshore banking practice, Mr. Birkenfeld was sentenced to an unprecedented 40-months in prison.

Seeks Correction of False and Misleading Statements Filed With Court and Investigation into Privacy Act Violations  

Washington, D.C. January 5, 2010. Today UBS whistleblower Bradley Birkenfeld filed an complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) seeking a formal investigation into incomplete and misleading statements made by attorneys for the Justice Department. 

Washington, D.C. December 31, 2009. Today the National Whistleblowers Center (NWC) has begun another push for an independent review of the tax fraud whistleblower Bradley Birkenfeld's case before he reports to jail on January 8, 2010.   Mr. Birkenfeld is an international banker who voluntarily came forward and blew the whistle exposing the biggest international tax fraud scheme in history.  Despite the government's acknowledgement that the UBS bank tax fraud scheme would have continued undetected without Mr. Birkenfeld's voluntary disclosure, he was sentenced to 3 years and 4 months in prison for his actions.

Washington, D.C. December 28, 2009. Attorneys representing Bradley Birkenfeld, the former Swiss banker who blew whistle on UBS's 20 Billion Dollar tax fraud scheme, have sent a request to Attorney General Eric Holder asking him to reopen his criminal case.  Linked below is a letter sent to Attorney General Eric Holder concerning the criminal prosecution of Bradley Birkenfeld by attorneys representing him in his whistleblower case. 

Washington, DC. December 3, 2009. In a major development that enhances protections for whistleblowers worldwide, a recommended set of principles for international whistleblower laws endorsed by well-respected NGO's from countries around the world was released today.

TAKE ACTION!  Click here for background information

Sentencing UBS Whistleblower Undermines U.S. and International Anti-Corruption Efforts

Washington, D.C. November 25, 2009.  International organizations, including Transparency International Czech Republic, the Federal Accountability Initiative for Reform (FAIR) - Canada, and The Network for Affirmation of NGO Sector (MANS) - Montenegro have joined the National Whistleblowers Center (NWC), the Government Accountability Project, the Project on Government Oversight, and numerous other U.S. based advocacy groups in their request for U.S. Attorney General Holder to independently investigate the case of Bradley Birkenfeld.

  Government is Discouraging Future Tax Whistleblowers

Washington, D.C. October 14, 2009. Tomorrow marks the end of the IRS' amnesty program for special voluntary disclosures by taxpayers with unreported income from hidden offshore accounts.   The entire basis for the IRS amnesty program was due to the efforts of one whistleblower - Brad Birkenfeld - who blew the whistle on UBS and the 19,000 undisclosed accounts held by U.S. taxpayers.  The U.S. Government has stated this in court:

Washington, D.C. October 7, 2009.  Today the Treasury Inspector General For Tax Administration (TIGTA) released a report finding that "deficiencies exist" in the IRS program designed to promote whistleblower disclosures of tax fraud.  The TIGTA report found that some of the major deficiencies were "inadequate procedures and processes" for administering whistleblower claims, the failure to "timely process" whistleblower claims, and a loophole in the law which can result in employees being retaliated against for filing whistleblower claims to the IRS.