|
Tragic Day for Whistleblowers and Worldwide Anti-Corruption Efforts - International Version |
Today at approximately 2:00 pm EST, UBS whistleblower Bradley Birkenfeld reported to federal prison to begin a 40-month sentence. This miscarriage of justice will have the perverse effect of silencing whistleblowers who want to report tax fraud. In our entire history tracking whistleblower cases, this is the most abhorrent action ever taken against a whistleblower. Mr. Birkenfeld deserves to be commended for protecting the American people and yet he faces the loss of his liberty.
The facts of the case are clear:
- Mr. Birkenfeld repeatedly tried to correct the illegal UBS tax fraud
scheme internally.
- Mr. Birkenfeld resigned from UBS when they failed to correct the
problem internally.
- Mr. Birkenfeld voluntarily approached the U.S. government with his
allegations.
- Mr. Birkenfeld made full disclosures to the Department of Justice,
Internal Revenue Service, Securities and Exchange Commission, and the
Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.
- Every UBS tax cheat that has been prosecuted has received probation,
fines, no more than three months in prison, community service and/or
house arrest.
- Mr. Birkenfeld is the ONLY banker connected with UBS to receive a
prison sentence.
Tax
Notes has named Mr. Birkenfeld as their inaugural "Person of
the Year" and the New
York Daily News has asserted that Mr. Birkenfeld should be
given a "statue on Wall Street, not a prison sentence." With articles
like these and stories on 60
Minutes, Democracy
Now and Fox
Business News, the public has begun to understand why Mr.
Birkenfeld's sentence is not only unjust - it is dangerous to American
taxpayers and the worldwide efforts to stop corruption.
Now
that the Government has decided to incarcerate Mr. Birkenfeld, the
Justice Department might as well tell every American to open up a Swiss
Bank Account and avoid paying taxes. What whistleblower will
come forward after seeing Bradley Birkenfeld sent to prison?
We need your help NOW! Please send a
letter to Attorney General Holder and President Obama demanding that
corrective action be taken immediately. Then forward
this action alert to as many people as possible and post it to
your facebook, twitter, and other social networking sites. Together we
can make it clear that this is unacceptable!
If you are inside
of the United States please click here to Take
Action.
|
|
Tags: Action Alerts, Corporate Accountability, Bradley Birkenfeld - Archive
|
Support strong whistleblower rights for federal employees. Contact Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) and Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), as well as your own Senators, and tell them you support the whistleblower protections contained in H.R. 1507. Take Action! 
Support the NWC! You can partner with the National Whistleblowers Center to help our programs continue and expand. No matter how large or small, your contribution goes toward assuring that the rights of whistleblowers are protected.