UBS whistleblower awarded $104M by IRS for helping in Swiss bank probe

Carolyn Kaster/AP - In this Jan. 8, 2010 file photo, Bradley Birkenfeld, a whistleblower in the tax evasion case against Swiss bank UBS, pauses during a press conference in Pennsylvania. The IRS has awarded the ex-banker $104 million for providing information about overseas tax cheats — the largest amount ever awarded by the agency, lawyers for the whistleblower announced Tuesday.

By Dina ElBoghdady, WashPost, Updated: Tuesday, September 11, 12:54 PM

The Internal Revenue Service awarded $104 million to a banker-turned-whistleblower who helped the government uncover a massive scheme in which Switzerland’s largest bank helped its American clients dodge taxes.

The award, confirmed by the IRS on Tuesday, was announced by the legal team representing Bradley Birkenfeld. The former UBS banker gave federal investigators a detailed account of what was happening inside the bank, but he ended up serving nearly three years in prison after he pleaded guilty in 2008 to helping one of his clients evade taxes.

Birkenfeld’s lawyers said they believed the reward was the largest ever given to a whistleblower. The legal team cited a document from the IRS that praised Birkenfeld for tipping the agency off to behavior that it had been unable to detect and his “exceptional cooperation” in offering information that led to “unprecedented actions” against UBS.

Those actions included a 2009 deal in which UBS admitted to the scheme and agreed to pay the U.S. government $780 million, marking a huge victory in the government’s quest to lift the veil of secrecy in Swiss banking.

(More here.)