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Mr. Bradley Birkenfeld is an international banker who blew the whistle on secret offshore accounts at UBS bank in Switzerland. Mr. Birkenfeld, while working for UBS, came to realize that "bank managers were encouraging breaches of UBS's own written policies in helping American clients evade federal taxes." When Mr. Birkenfeld realized in 2005 that UBS was engaging in illegal and unethical behavior in their handling of banking clients, he immediately complained internally to UBS's Legal and Compliance departments and, when his complaints were ignored, he resigned. Sensing a cover up by UBS, Mr. Birkenfeld then took courageous measures to travel to the United States at his own expense to blow the whistle on UBS's illegal activities to the US government, including the Department of Justice, Internal Revenue Service, Securities and Exchange Commission and the US Senate.
Mr. Birkenfeld's voluntary disclosures directly led to the recovery of billions of taxpayers dollars and the end of the illegal UBS tax fraud scheme. Despite his invaluable contribution, Mr. Birkenfeld began serving a 40-month prison sentence on January 8, 2010. In return for his extraordinary cooperation with the U.S. government, Mr. Birkenfeld remains the only person involved the in the largest illegal tax scheme in history to receive a lengthy prison sentence. He also spent over 19 months in a home confinement program, which included electronic monitoring, a curfew, and travel restrictions. So far, everyone prosecuted in relation to the UBS tax scheme has received minor sentences, including probation, fines, community service, no more than 3 months in prison and/or house arrest. The director of the entire UBS program, Martin Liechti, was released by U.S. authorities and allowed to return to Switzerland without any prosecution
Grant Clemency to Bradley Birkenfeld
Greetings, Mr. President:
I urge you to support UBS whistleblower Bradley Birkenfeld’s official petition for clemency and to release him from prison. I ask that his petition be granted immediately to reverse the radical chilling effect Mr. Birkenfeld’s sentence has had on other corporate whistleblowers, especially those in the international banking community that want to report the illegal practices that allow millionaires and billionaires to hide American tax dollars.
The Department of Justice admitted that “but for Mr. Birkenfeld” the entire illegal UBS tax scheme would not have been discovered by the U.S. government.
As a result of Mr. Birkenfeld’s whistleblowing:
- UBS AG was forced to pay $780 million in fines and penalties to the U.S.
- The IRS created an amnesty program, under which 14,700 people have come forward and admitted to illegal, secret bank accounts
- Billions of taxpayer dollars have been recovered by the IRS
- UBS shut down the entire $20 billion illegal program that existed to solicit and encourage wealthy Americans to hide their money in secret, offshore accounts
Despite his unprecedented contributions, the Department of Justice chose to prosecute Mr. Birkenfeld. Mr. Birkenfeld received the most severe sentence and has already served more time than anyone connected to the UBS scandal.
President Obama has the opportunity today to send a message that the U.S. will protect and encourage whistleblowers, not destroy them. Tax cheats are still out there, and we need to encourage insiders to come forward with information to help catch them. Bradley Birkenfeld helped the U.S. government recover my tax dollars. I am asking you to support his petition for clemency and release him from prison immediately.
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