WikiLeaks to expose Swiss bank info

WikiLeaks is about to release details of over 2,000 prominent individuals and companies provided by a former Swiss bank executive, who accused them of engaging in tax evasion among other possible crimes.

Rudolf Elmer, the chief at the Cayman Islands office of the high profile Swiss bank Julius Baer, handed over the data in two CDs to the whistle-blowing website founder Julian Assange here on Monday.

Assange promised a “full revelation” after two weeks of checking and disseminating the data, which includes information on about 40 politicians and global “pillars of society”.

Apart from suggesting possible partnerships with financial media organisations, he said WikiLeaks would consider turning the information to Britain’s financial corruption watchdog. the Serious Fraud Office.

WikiLeaks sent shockwaves across the globe last year as it along with five media partners began publishing secret US diplomatic cables, a move that embarrassed USA before the world and undermined its diplomatic missions.

Elmer, who faces trial in Switzerland on Wednesday for breaching the bank’s secrecy, said he wanted to draw attention to “unfair system” that helped high-net-worth individuals and multinational conglomerates to launder money and evade taxes.

“I want to let society know what I do know, and how this system works, because it?s damaging society,” he said.

In a statement released on Friday, Julius Baer denied all allegations by Elmer and said the man was a mission to discredit the offshore bank and its clients.

The bank has accused Elmer, who was fired in Dec 2002, of falsifying documents, spreading misinformation and even making death threats against employees.