Yahoo – AFP,
9 Feb 2015
Geneva
(AFP) - The man who stole the trove of secret files that sparked a global
scandal over banking giant HSBC's alleged assistance to wealthy tax dodgers
called Monday for more protections for whistleblowers.
Herve
Falciani, the former HSBC employee behind the so-called SwissLeaks revelations,
said far more needed to be done to protect whistleblowers like himself,
including financial support.
"If
you want to counterbalance impunity, you have to provide the means to do
so," he told Swiss public broadcaster RTS.
The
French-Italian former IT worker at HSBC's Swiss banking arm took client data in
2007 and handed it over to French authorities.
The cache
of files, which caused global shockwaves Monday after being made public,
included the names of celebrities, alleged arms dealers and politicians.
The
documents published at the weekend claim the London-based bank's Swiss division
helped clients in more than 200 countries evade taxes on accounts containing
$119 billion (104 billion euros).
Falciani,
who is wanted in Switzerland for data theft, said France had provided him with
physical protection.
But, he
said, there was also a need for "protections that are not only physical,
but also professional, reputational and legal."
Asked
whether he thought whistleblowers should receive financial compensation, he
said: "Of course."
"You
must not be naive. We are made of flesh and bones... we cannot do this merely
with the energy of our own despair," he told RTS.
Falciani,
who has been accused of stealing the files with the intent to sell the
sensitive information on to third parties to line his pockets, denied that he
had ever been paid.
He also
stressed that there were many other whistleblowers out there who desperately
needed support, pointing out that protecting them properly would inspire others
to take the leap.
"There
are all of the others who are in the rear ... and who are only waiting for a
little bit of justice before stepping forward to serve the community," he
said.
Falciani
also joined calls for Switzerland to open an investigation into HSBC, which is
already facing prosecution in France and Belgium.
"I
hope they will have enough energy left after investigating me for the past six
years to investigate the bank," he said, adding: "That's the least
they can do".
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