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Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Whistleblower hands Assange offshore bank secrets


Swiss banker Rudolf Elmer said he wanted the world to know the truth about money concealed in offshore accounts. -- PHOTO: AFP

LONDON - AN OFFSHORE banking whistleblower on Monday personally handed WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange two CDs reportedly containing the names of 2,000 bank clients who may have been evading taxes.

Swiss banker Rudolf Elmer, who worked for eight years in the Cayman Islands, a British overseas territory in the Caribbean, said he wanted the world to know the truth about money concealed in offshore accounts.


Mr Elmer handed over the data at the Frontline Club in London - WikiLeaks' British HQ - as Assange put in a rare appearance away from the remote country house where he has been bailed to live while he awaits extradition proceedings.

'I am here today to support him,' Assange told reporters.

'He is a whistleblower and he has important things to say.' The Australian said it would be weeks before any of the information could be checked and published on the WikiLeaks website.

Mr Elmer declined to give the names of those on the CDs or say how many individuals were involved. -- AFP


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