A mysterious website has issued a $7-million (U.S.) bounty for a computer technician who sparked an international scandal when he stole and sold banking records for thousands of account holders from the European tax haven of Liechtenstein.
Heinrich Kieber, a former information technology specialist with Liechtenstein's LGT Group, has been in the witness-protection program of an undisclosed country since last summer when he sold to Germany several DVDs containing reams of data on 1,400 clients of the bank. The records, which include the names and holdings of about 100 wealthy and yet-to-be-named Canadians, have sparked numerous tax-evasion and money-laundering investigations around the world.
But just as the data have opened a rare window on the secret financial dealings of the rich, it appears that somebody is attempting to shine a light on the 43-year-old informant, launching a website - - to elicit information about the whereabouts of Mr. Kieber and others.
The identity of the website's creator is unclear.
The only contact information on the website, which is written in German, is an e-mail address. The publicly listed registration information for the website address includes a phone number for a hotel in Tel Aviv and a street address for a Tel Aviv office tower.
In an e-mail exchange, an administrator with the website who signed off as "Tom," told The Globe and Mail that many interested parties are trying to track down Mr. Kieber. The author referred to the lucrative reward as "legitimate."
"Kieber is not able to live with his new identity. He makes great mistakes, still keeping contact to the members of his family. In the end, he will lose his liberty because of that," the administrator said in one e-mail.
"Kieber is a very difficult problem for Liechtenstein, and the preparation for his capture and his repatriation to Liechtenstein must be made without any publicity. Without the press and spectators. In addition, another wealthy circle of persons is interested in Kieber."
The royal family of the Principality of Liechtenstein, which owns the bank, has come under attack since the story of Mr. Kieber's DVDs became public a few months ago. The country, which has a population of about 36,000 and is nestled between Switzerland and Austria, is facing pressure from the European Union and the United States to become more transparent.
The country has issued a warrant to Interpol for the arrest of Mr. Kieber, but a spokesman for the government denied any knowledge of the multimillion-dollar bounty.
"It's ridiculous to believe we are responsible for that. We don't know who is, but we don't take it serious at all," said spokesman Max Hohenberg.
Jack Blum, a Washington-based lawyer who is representing Mr. Kieber, said the bounty gave his client an awful fright.
Mr. Blum, an outspoken critic of tax havens and a specialist at tracking down the proceeds of white-collar crime, speculated that the creators of the website might be on-line and communicating with journalists because they're "fishing."
"It's letting everyone out there know that the reward exists, that's why you do it," he said. "I don't think that's a kid on his computer."
The name of the website doesn't offer any clear hints. It's the name of a person implicated in a Liechtenstein banking scandal around 2000, about whom the website is also seeking information.
Although the banking data have caused a firestorm in Europe, prompting the resignation of the head of the German post office and some tough questions for two Italian politicians, the list has not had a public impact on the North Americans whose names appear in the DVD.
That might change when a U.S. Senate subcommittee launches hearings into the affair. The news service Bloomberg reported yesterday that the subcommittee, chaired by Michigan Senator Carl Levin, has started issuing subpoenas for hearings that are expected to take place this summer.
The Canada Revenue Agency has encouraged those with undeclared income in Liechtenstein to avoid prosecution by filing a voluntary disclosure. The agency has refused to say how many of the 100 have taken advantage of the amnesty program, or how much unreported money they have uncovered.
Greg McArthur