Birkenfeld Case

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1. Birkenfeld was adamant that his prison sentence was unfair when compared to the fact that no one else (e.g., Olenicoff or UBS bankers) went to jail. Did he have a point? He should have thought before he acted you cannot pick and choose the things you want to disclose. Life is not fair and it’s especially not for criminals. This is a tuff question because no he did not have a point but in retrospect if you lock up every individual who chooses to report a crime then no one will report it. He got off pretty well if you ask me, he did receive 104 million.

2. Why did UBS elect to settle with the U.S. government? I think they did a risk assessment and said well give them what we were caught for so they will not dig deeper. UBS also had American operations and did not want to have any further complications. …show more content…

Given that there was an immunity agreement in place, what did the Department of Justice gain from prosecuting Birkenfeld? The department of justice received two thing’s, “Justice its self” they also had the opportunity to make an exampling of a whistler blower who tried to hide some of his relationships and involvement.

4. Critics are concerned that even with the large qui tam award, Birkenfeld’s prison sentence will discourage other tax whistle-blowers from coming forward. Is that a valid concern? Why or why not? Yes, it is more then most of the individuals involved enough to know about tax evasion are involved to an extent them selves and would not want to tell knowing the outcome. On the other hand I know there is a lot of individuals who would spend forty months in jail for 104 million dollars.

Interesting topic and good read. In the end did he deserve jail time, yes? Did he deserve 104 million, debatable? Is it a good thing he came forward, yes? Should they have prosecuted him,

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