Ex-Banker Hands Data to Wikileaks

By aaroncynic in News on Jan 18, 2011 3:00PM

Yesterday a former Swiss banker handed over data concerning about 2,000 cross border bank accounts to Wikileaks. The Tribune reports Rudolf Elmer, former CEO of Julius Bayer Bank and Trust Company, Ltd. alleges the files contain information that show business leaders and lawmaker's attempts to avoid paying taxes. In addition, he said he may provide the files to the British government for investigations into criminal wrongdoing. Elmer did not disclose details of the companies or people contained in the documents.

Wikileaks wasn't Elmer's first choice to make the data public. The New York Times reports he attempted to hand data over to universities and other government entities, including the IRS. Addressing reporters at a press conference alongside Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, Elmer said "I am against the system. I know how the system works and I know the day-to-day business. From that point of view, I wanted to let society know what I know. It is damaging our society.”

Assange told the press it could take weeks before the data is released. Much like the diplomatic cables Wikileaks continues to release (nearly 1 percent have been released so far), the data may be provided to news outlets such as Bloomberg ahead of time.