An ex-Swiss banking exec has given Wikileaks data on what he says are over 2,000 high-level people and companies involved in tax evasion and other potential crimes. At a news conference where he passed the discs to Julian Assange in front of reporters, the man refused to name names, but said that roughly 40 politicians and “pillars of society” were on there. Assange said that Wikileaks would vet the information and publish it, along with names, in just two weeks.

In recent years the rich have taken advantage of off-shore banks to evade scrutiny and stash profits away from the tax-man. Complex rules governing these banks, as well as their general disinterest in cooperating with external authorities, have turned these islands, for instance, the Caribbean, into tax havens for the wealthy. It will be interesting to see what kind of light the latest Wikileak will shed on their goings-on.

Ex-Banker Gives Data on Taxes to WikiLeaks [NYT]

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