From The Sunday Times
February 24, 2008

Tax authorities pay for Britons' bank details
Robert Watts and Nicola Smith

The British tax authorities have paid an informant for the bank details of
scores of wealthy Britons. The records were stolen from one of the world¹s
most secretive tax havens.

HM Revenue & Customs paid £100,000 for data that it is using to launch
investigations of up to 100 British citizens who have accounts at
Liechtenstein¹s biggest bank.

British authorities regard it as a coup to have penetrated accounts that
have been beyond their reach for decades. ³There will be many frightened
people who thought Liechtenstein was secure,² said a City accountant.

Anyone found to have evaded tax faces fines of up to 100% of the money owed
to the Revenue and, where deliberate deception is proved, a jail sentence of
up to seven years.

The bank informant has already provoked a storm in Germany by selling data
on 750 wealthy Germans¹ accounts to the country¹s intelligence service for
£3.2m in January last year.

Homes and offices of dozens of suspected tax evaders in Germany have since
been raided.

The suspected whistleblower, accused of stealing data from the bank, was
sacked and convicted of fraud. He also offered data to tax authorities in
America, Canada, Australia and France.

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/money/tax/article3423610.ece

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