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Birkenfeld’s Reward Prompting Other Bankers to Ask About Whistleblower Program, Say Attorneys

By Brian Monroe

Dozens of would-be informants from banks have contacted attorneys following the disclosure Tuesday that a former UBS AG banker received $104 million for reporting his institution's role in a tax evasion scheme. Attorneys for Bradley Birkenfeld, a director of the Swiss financial institution's private banking division from 2001 through 2006, said that the IRS agreed to pay their client for turning over information that led to a $780 million settlement in 2009. The landmark case resulted in UBS disclosing information on nearly 4,500 of its U.S. clients. Since Tuesday's announcement, the Washington, D.C.-based National Whistleblowers Center has "seen an upsurge...

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