The IRS awarded
$104 million to UBS whistleblower Bradley Birkenfeld Tuesday. In 2007 Birkenfeld played a key role in
alerting the U.S. government to the ways the Swiss bank, UBS, was encouraging
clients to evade taxes in the U.S. Following
Birkenfeld’s tip, UBS agreed to a $780 million settlement with the Department
of Justice, and turned over information on some 5,000 Swiss accounts to the
IRS.
Largely as
a result of Birkenfeld’s cooperation and the subsequent investigation of
several Swiss banks, the IRS launched its first Offshore Voluntary Disclosure
Program in 2009. Over 33,000 Americans
have since participated in the program and the IRS has recouped approximately
$5 billion in back taxes and penalties.
Such a
substantial whistleblower reward recognizes the value of Birkenfeld’s
contributions to the IRS investigation. ErikaKelton, a whistleblower attorney at Phillips & Cohen LLP,
noted the significance of the reward in a Bloomberg article. Kelton said, “The government
acknowledged that without him or someone in his position, offshore evasion at
UBS would still likely be going on.”
