Former Swiss banker charged with giving data to WikiLeaks

A Swiss prosecutor brought charges against former Julius Baer private banker Rudolf Elmer today for allegedly handing over confidential data to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and attempting to pass on files to German officials.

The former head of Baer's Cayman Islands office has been under investigation by Zurich prosecutors since 2011, when he was arrested for giving Mr Assange what - according to Mr Elmer - were two discs containing confidential information on about 2,000 offshore banking clients.

“The Zurich prosecutor for economic crime brought charges against Rudolf Elmer on July 9th, 2014, for breaching banking secrecy and for forgery,” the prosecutor said in a statement.

The charges refer to data passed to Mr Assange during a news conference in London and to alleged attempts by Mr Elmer to pass on confidential client data to German officials in 2009 and 2010.

In the past, some German states have bought data leaked from Swiss banks in order to get at names of their citizens who evade taxes, but it is not clear if Mr Elmer’s case has any connection to this.

Mr Elmer, who in past has said he wants to draw attention to financial abuses, could not be immediately reached for comment today. The Zurich prosecutor said Mr Elmer denies having acted criminally.

WikiLeaks has angered US authorities by publishing hundreds of secret diplomatic cables.

Reuters