A former Swiss private banker handed over data on hundreds of offshore bank account holders to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange at a news conference today.
Rudolf Elmer once headed the office of Julius Baer in the Cayman Islands until he was fired by the bank in 2002. He is scheduled to go on trial in Switzerland on Wednesday for breaching bank secrecy.
Mr Elmer handed Assange the data at a news conference at a media club in London. The two yellow and blue discs contain information on 2,000 banking clients who have parked money offshore.
"He (Elmer) is clearly a bona fide whistleblower... We have some kind of duty to support him in that matter," said Mr Assange, who is on bail in Britain and fighting extradition to Sweden where he faces questioning over alleged sex crimes.
Mr Assange angered the US authorities after WikiLeaks published hundreds of secret diplomatic cables it had obtained.
Mr Elmer, who worked in the Cayman Islands for eight years, said: "I know how the system works... It's damaging... (I want) to educate our society."
WikiLeaks will vet the data before publishing it. Vetting will be done by themselves, media organisations and other partners to protect sources amongst other concerns. The process will take at least two weeks, Mr Assange said.
Yesterday, Mr Elmer said that he hoped his appearance at the news conference would both call attention to offshore financial abuses and promote WikiLeaks as a mechanism for other whistleblowers to air their stories.
Reuters