Another good reason to pay your taxes.

[pokerplayer]

I always did plan on paying, but if your into that off shore banking......

pp

London (CNN) -- A Swiss whistle-blower Monday handed over what he said were secret Swiss banking records to WikiLeaks, the website dedicated to revealing secrets.

Swiss banker Rudolf Elmer handed two discs to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange at a news conference in London.

WikiLeaks could release the secret Swiss banking records in "a matter of weeks" if it can process them quickly enough, Assange said.

Elmer said he would not reveal the names in the records and said he was unable to say how many people were involved.

Who is Rudolf Elmer?

He said about 2,000 clients' records were included, but that because of the way trusts and corporations are set up, he could not determine how many individuals were involved.

Elmer describes himself as an activist/reformer/banker.

New WikiLeaks whistleblower

101: WikiLeaks revealed

WikiLeaks in review "I think, as a banker, I do have the right to stand up if something is wrong," he said Monday, explaining why he was giving the documents to the website.

Elmer is due to go on trial Wednesday in Switzerland for violating the country's banking secrecy regulations.

He said he wanted "to let society know what I do know and how this system works because it is damaging our society in the way that money is moved" and hidden in offshore jurisdictions.

He began looking into the issue when he was a banker in the Cayman Islands, he said.

When he first looked into the problems of offshore banking he said it looked like "a mouse tail," but as he investigated in the Cayman Islands and Switzerland, it became a "dragon's tail," and finally a many-headed dragon.

Speaking at the same news conference, lawyer Jack Blum said it was not always possible to determine who, if anyone, had engaged in "criminal tax evasion."

Elmer aims to "challenge Swiss Bank Secrecy at the European Court of Human Rights and the Swiss courts," he says on his website. He has worked at six offshore banking centers, he says.

He has been engaged in a long-running battle with Swiss banks over secrecy, he said.

He said he had approached tax authorities and universities with his data, but that no one was interested. He was about to give up, he said, when he learned about WikiLeaks from a friend.

He said he was "grateful" to WikiLeaks for helping him "send the message which I wanted to send," but that he was not trying to use it for "protection" as he faced prosecution.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/europe/01/17/wikileaks.swiss.banking/index.html

[Butifldrm]

OUCH! Thanks for the Post!

[cbs71]

Wow! I will say this..this wiki leaks dude better watch his back ...

[xxxgator]

i think he'll find out the whole world hates a snitch right or wrong .Even in the darkest of circles there is an spoken code / nobody likes a ratt.Especially the powerful and connected.I'm supprised the us hasn't sent in black op's to help the wiki leaks people slip in the shower , get hit by a bus , ect. ect. ratting out the local drug dealer is one thing but tryin to throw powerfull people who have tons of money to hide and potentialy lose is another.Alot of those guys play for keeps. Your first mistake is your last.@Onhe day your there and then your jimmy hoffa all over.People will be sayin , i just saw him last week. Meanwhile they took him fishing as the bait or to the alligator farm as the main course Hope that goes better than that on the guy but i doubt it

[Keipher]

We need to be more like Israel. They treat their threats with a big dose of pro-activeness!

[Tiffany23]

Ok...who wants to bet against me that Pee Wee Herman ends up having more in a Swiss Bank account than Wesley Snipes?

[powerpager]

Another good reason is You Don't Have to Go Visit the SLAM !!!

[NotReallyTex]

I don't mind paying taxes as long as the money goes to LEGAL AMERICAN CITIZENS.

[pokerplayer]

The reason I posted this is to remind people that no matter how careful YOU are, all its takes is one disgruntled person to bring the house crashing down. Then you end up with "BUBBA" as a cell mate. ( no offence meant to those named Bubba ). Pay your taxes and enjoy life. Let the other guy look over his shoulder for the rest of his life.

pp

[Tubbs]

Here we go again with the I pay all my taxes, never cheated our government of 1 penny routine, funny those investigators usually look for the righteous ones first

I'm just saying

[pokerplayer]

Here we go again with the I pay all my taxes, never cheated our government of 1 penny routine, funny those investigators usually look for the righteous ones first

I'm just saying

Did you even read the article? I know theirs lots of big words, but ask your cousin if you don't understand. I was trying to show that even well planned tax evasions can backfire on a person

PS do you have all your teeth? Sheesh, Red Necks, Go Figure.

pp

[Tubbs]

Dude you one funny tax evader

[detroitjazzman]

There is no statue of limitations on TAX EVASION And the long arm of the IRS never reaches at a opportune time! Im just saying

Edited January 18, 2011 by detroitjazzman

[shwngo]

I don't mind paying, I just wish they would spend it the right way..... But nope, I'll keep paying and they will keep getting $1000 hair cuts in the white house..

[usndiver]

There is no statue of limitations on TAX EVASION And the long arm of the IRS never reaches at a opportune time! Im just saying

You are incorrect. I am in the middle of a business audit at this time. The IRS can go back three years, seven years if tax evasion is suspected.