Whistle blowing is a total crap shoot. We'd have much more of it if that wasn't the case.
I Won $104M for Blowing the Whistle But Was the Only One Who Went to Jail
61–70 of 106 posts
Re: I Won $104M for Blowing the Whistle But Was the Only One Who Went to Jail
#62Just to clarify a minor point -- the person he says threw her Blackberry across the room in frustration over his award is described by the NYT article as being frustrated because it was larger than her department's entire budget , not necessarily because he got an award at all.
And she threw it "across the table", not across the room as he stated.
Re: I Won $104M for Blowing the Whistle But Was the Only One Who Went to Jail
#63Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm not. As near as I can tell from objective sources , Birkenfeld: 1) Deserved the money 2) Did not deserve prison. You can't equate those.
Unless I'm misreading, he's a bank executive who smuggled diamonds internationally to held a Russian oligarch avoid US taxes. Why exactly are you immunizing him?
To clarify: I don't feel that he deserved prison for what he was accused of and eventually pled guilty to in a plea bargain, given the totality of the circumstances. Which was not, unless I'm misreading, anything to do with diamond smuggling.
Mind you, it's possible he plead guilty to what seems (to me) as vaguely absurd charges to avoid a much harsher penalty for the diamond smuggling and such.
Re: I Won $104M for Blowing the Whistle But Was the Only One Who Went to Jail
#64Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not that terrible compared to other prisons. Compared to freedom, though, not so not-that-terrible.
If I had to choose between a minimum security federal prison and 3-4 long-distance airline flights a week and living out of hotels (a not-unusual travel burden for the kinds of people who make 7 figures a year reliably), I would have absolutely no trouble picking "prison". Remember: the premise here is that once you do your bit, you're set for life.
I'd add that $100M makes it easier, a felony conviction, especially at the federal level is no joke.
Re: I Won $104M for Blowing the Whistle But Was the Only One Who Went to Jail
#65Fuck this guy. No, seriously, fuck this guy. Why in the hell would anybody who's not an asshole decide to aid and abet the state in its coercive expropriation of money? I find this guy repulsive.
Re: I Won $104M for Blowing the Whistle But Was the Only One Who Went to Jail
#66Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm not. It was not an exchange. He neither knew about the money, nor expected it at the start. I think it would be more precise to say: "Bank exec blew a whistle his company and got 3 years in minimum security prison. By coincidence he also got a lot of money afterwards." Basically unless the whole story the whistleblower reported was fabricated, I don't think there's any situation where I'd be ok with the whistlebl…
What do you mean he didn't know about it? He's a banking exec whistleblowing on tax evasion. The IRS bounty on recoveries is not exactly a secret. Even in the unlikely event that he himself wasn't aware of his prospects when he went in, you'd assume literally the very first thing any competent lawyer would have told him was "you stand to make a hundred million dollars if you go through with it". The thing I like abou…
No, I still sort of agree with you. The law did pass after he started to whistleblow. However, he wasn't whistleblowing because they were a sneaky bank doing things like set up tax evasion schemes. He was whistleblowing because they set him up to take the blame for the damages. His next plan was to get immunity for all his crimes while screwing them and keeping his money. Had that document not formed or he seen it, he would've kept helping companies in their crimes (or shady stuff) in exchange for large paycheck at the bank.
So, he's still a piece of shit that doesn't give a damn about tax evasion doing it solely for himself. He got a great reward in the process anyway despite it backfiring a bit. Like you said above, I think it's probably a good trade so long as it didn't screw up his head in there. :)
Re: I Won $104M for Blowing the Whistle But Was the Only One Who Went to Jail
#67Earlier quoted context omitted.
It sort of looks like this bank exec traded 3 years in minimum security prison for more money than any of us could ever use in a lifetime. I'm pretty OK with that precedent!
I'm not. As near as I can tell from objective sources , Birkenfeld: 1) Deserved the money 2) Did not deserve prison. You can't equate those.
He aided tax evasion for U.S. and other companies. IRS threatened to come after me for about $1.20 once. No kidding. This guy helping them disguise tens of millions to billions... who knows amount... in taxes they owed? "Did not deserve prison." Oh no, I think the scumbag did. His bosses deserved a longer sentence, too.
Although, they're doing what their country makes a lot of money on. So maybe heroes of private industry over there. ;)
Re: I Won $104M for Blowing the Whistle But Was the Only One Who Went to Jail
#68Fuck this guy. No, seriously, fuck this guy. Why in the hell would anybody who's not an asshole decide to aid and abet the state in its coercive expropriation of money? I find this guy repulsive.
Huh? He's the only person out of dozens/hundreds/thousands of employees who pursued. Everyone else is happy to have a comfy job that pays their bills, while burying their heads in the sand and praying that nobody shuts them down so they can keep their cushy salaries performing illegal work.
"Fuck this guy". No, fuck almost everyone else who works for these kinds of companies, pretending like they're not the scum of society.
Word to the wise: if you work for this kind of company, and do not have the gumption to stand and fight, get the hell out and run for the hills. You might just wind up being the scapegoat; better to get out and let the other willing participants take the fall.
Re: I Won $104M for Blowing the Whistle But Was the Only One Who Went to Jail
#69Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm not. As near as I can tell from objective sources , Birkenfeld: 1) Deserved the money 2) Did not deserve prison. You can't equate those.
Unless I'm misreading, he's a bank executive who smuggled diamonds internationally to held a Russian oligarch avoid US taxes. Why exactly are you immunizing him?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Igor_Olenicoff#Tax_evasion
Prosecutors were extremely reluctant to prosecute the oligarch and didn't want him in jail. However they were pretty vigorous with his banker!
Re: I Won $104M for Blowing the Whistle But Was the Only One Who Went to Jail
#70Fuck this guy. No, seriously, fuck this guy. Why in the hell would anybody who's not an asshole decide to aid and abet the state in its coercive expropriation of money? I find this guy repulsive.
Are you trying to argue that taxes are inherently bad or something? How should we pay for roads, bridges, schools, and all that?