Seeking to cash in on whistleblower rewards, UBS banker Bradley C. Birkenfeld approached the Justice Department a few years ago to report his role in helping some 19,000 U.S. citizens lower their tax bills by keeping assets in overseas bank accounts. We will probablhy never know to what extent UBS and its investment advisors advised their clients about the legitimacy of such overseas investment and tax strategies, and prosecutors will use Birkenfeld, the threat of corporate indictments, and others means to make sure that any jurors know as little as possible about such advice to clients, because such advice removes criminal intent.
For Birkenfeld to hit paydirt (his "take" as a percentage of the government taxes and fines ultimately assessed), he had to make sure that he characterize the UBS clients and their actions as "criminal" rather than just tax savvy. The Justice Department salivated at the full-employment opportunity to pursue so many scalps, but they needed Birkenfeld and a few other "co-conspirators" to plead guilty to some "crime" so that potential jurors would buy the story that a vast criminal conspiracy had occurred.
Still hoping to share in the large loot that the Feds would eventually haul in from prosecutions of his customers, Birkenfeld agreed to play ball, and so he pled guilty to a supposed criminal conspiracy. At the same time, Birkenfeld expected no jail time in exchange for his coerced plea and his considerable "assistance" thus far, but that expectation was utterly naive. That is why he expressed shock when the a Federal Judge sentenced him to three years and four months in prison. He even went on "60 Minutes" to convey his shock, but viewers who know the legal system could only chuckle at such naivite.
What Birkenfeld failed to understand is that the Feds were far from through using him - squeezing every last drop of incriminating statements from his memory and from his imagination that they could squeeze, while they chased 19,000 potential targets. How could Birkenfeld and his lawyer not see that he would be used so thoroughly as an instrument of torture for years to come, and that his supposed prison sentence is simply a new form of Federal blackmail hanging over his head - and Birkenfeld will be "rewarded" with a reduced sentence and possibly even no jail time, as long has he "assists" prosecutors by singing and possibly even "composing" incriminating events and perspectives about people he has not yet implicated? Those who lie down with dogs wake up with.............
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Blog Introduction: SPOTLIGHT ON INJUSTICE IN THE U.S. DOJ This Blog is focused on Injustice perpetrated by the U.S. Department of Justice and other arms of law enforcement that overreach or abuse their positions of power and trust. through dishonest, unfair and sometimes illegal tactics to win at all costs and advance their careers. Read on........
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- Justice Seekers
- Having witnessed injustice throughout our U.S. Justice System, we are dedicating this blog to exposing wrong-doing by prosecutors and others with power in our justice system. Moreover, because traditional media rarely questions what it sees and is told by prosecutors, we are also dedicated to asking tougher questions about potentially questionable prosecutions that traditional media leaves unchallenged.