Bank Whistleblower: I Tipped Off Taxmen In 2008

The man who blew the whistle on the HSBC tax scandal tells Sky he first raised concerns seven years ago, when Labour was in power.

Herve Falciani, the man who exposed a tax scandal at HSBC by leaking thousands of account details from a Geneva branch, says he first raised concerns about suspect practices at the bank seven years ago.

In an interview with Sky News, Mr Falciani claims to have emailed and called Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs in 2008 – though he said the full processed data was only given to UK authorities in 2010.

Mr Falciani initially obtained the details while employed as an IT worker in 2007 and passed them to French authorities.

The details of 30,000 accounts – holding almost £78bn in assets – have been revealed after they were obtained by a French newspaper and analysed by a team of investigative journalists.

They accused HSBC’s Swiss banking arm of helping wealthy customers avoid tax and hide millions of dollars, and providing accounts to international criminals, corrupt businessmen, politicians and celebrities.

Senior politicians and HM Revenue & Customs have been accused of failing to act over the claims that HSBC helped clients dodge taxes.

And a furious blame game is under way between the Tories and Labour.

Mr Falciani said: “I sent an email, a very naive email, in 2008… to England – to the department dedicated to tax evasion – and afterwards I even called them.

“And finally the most efficient move was through the French authorities because when we accepted to work together it was established and agreed that what we were doing should be available to any countries having co-operation treaties signed with France.”

The date of this offer is an important part of the scandal impacting British politics.

HSBC now admits problems in controls and compliance in the period before 2008.

Mr Falciani said he was “relieved” that it had made the admission, something he had suggested for years.

So this raises questions on all sides.

Firstly, the problems on compliance and control occurred at a time when Lord Green was chief executive and then chairman of Britain’s biggest bank.

He was then made a lord, trade minister, and appointed to a Cabinet committee on post-crisis banking reform by the Prime Minister – after HMRC had received a full account of thousands of Britons suspected of avoiding taxes with HSBC’s help.

However, Mr Falciani confirms he first tried to contact HMRC in 2008, at a time when Labour was in office.

The picture painted by Mr Falciani is of a Britain reluctant to delve into illegally obtained data that nonetheless contains revelations about personal and corporate conduct.

He said he was used to being ignored by authorities that should have wanted to know more.

“Never did British tax authorities, Parliament nor Government invite me… right now the British investigators received just a tiny part of the available information on HSBC. Just 1%.”

His actions were the ultimate source of the data that has caused political havoc in Greece, Spain, India, France, Belgium and now the UK.

He says he is glad that another French source handed the full data to Le Monde newspaper, who then passed it on to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

“We hope it would increase public awareness of offshore banking, which is out of control,” he said. “We have proof in front of us.”

Mr Falciani is now advising political parties such as Podemos in Spain and the Indian government on how to combat tax avoidance by their richest citizens.

He said he would be delighted to come to Britain, but fears arrest by Interpol on account of a Swiss extradition warrant.

He was arrested in Spain because of the warrant, but his extradition was blocked on account of the help his data had given to Spanish tax and judicial authorities, after he appeared, disguised, at a tribunal.