As a private banker working for the largest bank in the world UBS (Union Bank of Switzerland), Brad Birkenfeld was an expert in Switzerland’s shell-game of offshore companies and secret
numbered accounts. He wined and dined ultrawealthy clients whose millions of dollars were hidden away from business partners, spouses and tax authorities. As his client list grew,
Birkenfeld lived a life of money, fast cars, and beautiful women, but then he discovered that UBS was planning to betray him, so he blew the whistle to the US Government.
The Department of Justice scorned Birkenfeld’s unprecedented whistleblowing and attempted to silence him with a charge of conspiracy. Yet Birkenfeld would not be intimidated. He took his
secrets to the US Senate, Securities and Exchange Commission and the Internal Revenue Service, where he prevailed.
His bombshell revelations helped the US Treasury recover over ＄10 billion in back taxes, fines and penalties from American tax cheats. But Birkenfeld was shocked to discover that at the same
time he was cooperating with the US Government, the Department of Justice was still doggedly pursuing him. He was arrested, convicted and served three years in federal prison. When he
emerged, the Internal Revenue Service gave him a whistle-blower award for ＄104 million, the largest such payout in history.
A page-turning real-life thriller, Lucifer’s Banker is a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the Swiss high-net-wealth banking industry and a harrowing account of our government’s
justice system. Readers will follow Birkenfeld as they will share his outrage with the incompetence and possible corruption at the Department of Justice, and they will cheer him on as he
“hammers” one of the most well-known and powerful banks in the world.
