Bradley Birkenfeld Exposed Over 19K Tax Cheats: To Begin Prison Sentence Friday ("60 Minutes" VIDEO)

[democracy1st]

Bradley Birkenfeld: UBS Informant To Begin Prison Sentence Friday


MIAMI (CURT ANDERSON -- AP) -- A federal judge refused Monday to postpone prison or consider a lighter sentence for a former Swiss banker-turned-informant who helped launch a massive U.S. tax evasion investigation into banking giant UBS AG.

The decision by U.S. District Judge William Zloch means Bradley Birkenfeld must report to prison Friday to begin a sentence of three years and four months, which is longer than what prosecutors had sought. Zloch also refused to schedule a hearing on whether to reconsider the sentence. Birkenfeld pleaded guilty last year to a fraud conspiracy charge.

Prosecutors credit Birkenfeld, 44, with exposing wrongdoing at UBS and leading investigators to thousands of suspected American tax cheaters who hid assets in the Swiss bank's accounts. But they also said Birkenfeld failed to disclose his own crimes, including his work for a California real estate magnate who pleaded guilty in 2007 to tax charges.

The Washington-based National Whistleblowers Center, whose attorneys are representing Birkenfeld, said in a statement that putting such a prominent informant in prison could "kill the goose that laid the golden eggs" by deterring others from coming forward.

"If the (Obama) administration is actually serious about going after offshore tax evasion they need to be encouraging whistleblowers, not throwing them in jail," said Dean Zerbe, special counsel at the Whistleblowers Center.


To view 13min "60 Minutes" video click the link:
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6050245n&tag=contentMain;cbsCarousel

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/04/bradley-birkenfeld-ubs-in_n_410753.html

http://www.whistleblowers.org/

Who is Judge William Zloch

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_District_Court_for_the_Southern_District_of_Florida
http://judgepedia.org/index.php/William_Zloch
http://www.floridabar.org/DIVPGM/PU/FCPCSurvey.nsf/0/2a969aa77554c11e85256cbf006a03ac!OpenDocument&Click=

[no limit]

1. That's nice he exposed them, but that doesn't excuse his own crimes.

[alstephenson]

3. That's "nice" he exposed them?

None of the tax cheats will go to jail. NONE.

[no limit]

6. You know this how?

Maybe I'm missing part of the story but it looks like quite a few people will go to jail.

[RaleighNCDUer]

2. Republican judge lands on a whistleblower with both feet, ensuring

that there will be no further whistleblowing perpetrated on the elite banksters.

How surprising.

[Frustratedlady]

4. District Judge William J. Zloch 1985 by Ronald Reagan

No surprise there

[90-percent]

5. that point was on the show

The next whistle blower anywhere will be a lot more reluctant to turn in crimes if it means they'll be the only one going to jail!

Just goes to show, quick clearly, the two tiers of justice between the little people and the monied elite.

-90% jimmy