CORPORATE CRIME REPORTER
24 Corporate Crime Reporter 4, January 22, 2010

Bradley Birkenfeld sits in a federal prison near Minersville, Pennsylvania.

As he sits and contemplates his release date - November 29, 2012 - he's asking himself - should I release the names of my UBS clients?

Many of the UBS clients he worked with were famous people whose names the American people will recognize.

Birkenfeld blew the whistle on one of the largest corporate crimes in history.

Birkenfeld was a Swiss banker.

He worked for one of the world's largest banks - UBS.

He sat at the North American UBS desk with 45 other individual bankers.

The clients?

Billionaires and millionaires from the United States seeking to dodge the IRS.

In total, 19,000 clients in North America.

Birkenfeld blew the whistle on the illegal activity he, his fellow bankers and UBS were engaged in.

As a result, UBS got a prosecution deferred.

No charges were brought against the 45 other UBS bankers who sat with Birkenfeld on the North American desk.

The 19,000 clients got a deal from the federal government - come in and pay your back taxes - and we won't tell the American people who you are.

Birkenfeld was thrown in the slammer.

But Birkenfeld has kept a list of his clients.

And he's checking it twice.

And now, Bradley Birkenfeld's lawyer, Stephen Kohn, says Birkenfeld is considering releasing those names.

What would be the motive for releasing the names?

"The motive would be to put pressure on the government to do its job," Kohn told Corporate Crime Reporter in a lengthy interview last week.

"We don't want to hurt the investigations if they are ongoing. It's obviously's Brad's choice."

Birkenfeld is also a bounty hunter.

Under a IRS new bounty hunter provision, Birkenfeld stands to gain 15 to 30 percent of whatever the government recovers from his whistleblowing.

And what has the government recovered from Birkenfeld's whistleblowing?

"You do the math," Kohn says. "His allegations have been linked to potential recoveries in the billions of dollars."

"Already there has been well over $1 billion in recoveries. The UBS fine alone was $780 million."

"The IRS says that of the 14,900 people who voluntarily stepped forward, there were recoveries in the billions. Those 14,900 have already turned themselves in."

"And the deal was - you turn yourself in voluntarily and the American people don't know who you are."

"These people are the upper crust of American society with positions of power and influence. By this deal, they escape detection."

What percentage of the names would be recognizable to the American people?

"More than two percent," Kohn says.

Let's do the math.

Let's say it's two percent of 19,000.

That would be 380 famous rich people who dodged their taxes.

Some of them politicians.

"Of the names he has, many of them are extremely recognizable," Kohn says. "Everyone is an influential person."

"UBS screened potential clients because they did not want the program to go down because they took money from petty drug dealers. They were looking for respectable people that didn't have collateral risks."

The New York Times reported this week that "prosecutors declined to serve the subpoena or to grant Mr. Birkenfeld immunity from prosecution because they feared

he would invoke his Fifth Amendment right."

"I do not understand this concern," Kohn said. "Bradley meet with federal prosecutors for two days in 2007 without taking the Fifth Amendment. I don't think he ever took the Fifth."

[For a complete transcript of the Interview with Stephen Kohn, see 24 Corporate Crime Reporter 4(10), January 25, 2010, print edition only.]

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