Chapter 9 Part 1: Tightrope - Walking the Line Between Hero and Criminal
The fake Jafarli letter broke something inside Birkenfeld. His own government had betrayed him. The DOJ had tailed him to Mexico, pulled his friend off a plane, stolen the guy’s identity, and used it to try to scare him into silence. He grew up believing in the Constitution and fair trials. Now he felt like a mob informant who accidentally confessed to a dirty cop.
Fighting Back
Birkenfeld went through every conversation he had with Ladjel and cleared him mentally. The suspect list was short: his brother Doug, Ladjel, his two lawyers, and the DOJ. Four fingers down. Only the DOJ was left.
Instead of hiding, Birkenfeld went on the attack. He called his lawyers Hector and Moran and told them to fax the fake letter straight to prosecutor Kevin Downing with a simple message: explain this. Downing laughed it off and said Birkenfeld “has numerous enemies.” Classic deflection.
Around the same time, journalist Haig Simonian published a bombshell in the Financial Times. An anonymous Swiss banker calling himself “Tarantula” had ripped Swiss banking secrecy wide open. Every major paper picked it up. Birkenfeld read it on his veranda drinking espresso and grinning.
Going Over Downing’s Head
Then came a tip from his friend James Woods still inside UBS. The DOJ had sent a “target letter” to UBS, formally putting the bank under criminal investigation. Birkenfeld was furious. That was like telling a suspect to hide the evidence before the raid. Whatever Downing was doing, it was not about justice for American taxpayers.
Birkenfeld was done with the DOJ. He told his lawyers to forget Downing and go straight to the US Senate. On August 31, 2007, they reached out to Senator Carl Levin’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. The first response was basically “cool story, bro.” But Birkenfeld told them to wait a few weeks and try again.
In September, he also reconnected with the IRS to keep them in the loop. His strategy was layered: keep the IRS informed, get the Senate to issue a subpoena that would legally protect him from Swiss retaliation, and bypass the DOJ entirely.
The Subpoena
On the second attempt, something had shifted. The Tarantula story had spread everywhere. The Senate paid attention this time. On October 9, his lawyers called with the news: the Senate had issued a subpoena. Finally, someone was going to listen.
Birkenfeld paid his housekeeper three months in advance, told her to keep the plants alive, and headed to the airport. He half expected Swiss police at the gate with a warrant. They were not there. He rolled the dice and flew to the States.
Nine Hours of Testimony
On November 13, 2007, Birkenfeld walked into a Senate boardroom across from Carl Levin’s office. Bob Roach, Levin’s chief investigator, swore him in. Birkenfeld wanted to say “you bet your ass I will” but kept it professional.
Then he started talking. And he did not stop for nine hours.
He laid out everything: how UBS operated its secret offshore business, the locations of every private banking office involved, a full list of banker names with phone numbers and internal codes, the senior executives running the scheme, and how the US-based UBS offices helped keep it all going. He told them to cross-reference banker passports with Homeland Security records. The committee staffers scribbled furiously.
The big numbers hit hardest. UBS held 19,000 secret American accounts containing $20 billion in hidden assets. The bank generated about $200 million per year in revenue from those accounts. That is $2 billion in untaxed revenue over just one decade. And the scheme had been running since World War II.
He walked them through UBS training materials that taught bankers to rotate hotel rooms, use code names for clients, remove “UBS” from business cards, and FedEx client documents to avoid carrying them. Basically spy tradecraft, but for tax evasion.
When asked why he refused to carry encrypted devices himself, Birkenfeld said: “I was a Swiss resident, working in full compliance with Swiss law, and I wasn’t going to behave like a criminal.” He was not pretending the devil made him do it. He owned his role and explained how his doubts grew over time. That honesty earned a respectful nod from Roach.
Key Takeaway
This first half of Chapter 9 is the turning point of the whole book. Birkenfeld stops playing defense and goes nuclear. He bypasses the hostile DOJ, secures Senate protection, and delivers the most detailed insider testimony on Swiss banking secrecy anyone had ever heard. The man walked in with years of evidence and left the room with staffers loosening their ties. Whatever happens next, the secret is officially out.
Book: Lucifer’s Banker Uncensored by Bradley C. Birkenfeld | ISBN: 978-1-63576-836-4
Previous: Chapter 8 Part 2 - The Mexico Setup Next up: Chapter 9 Part 2 - Tightrope Continues
Part of the Lucifer’s Banker Uncensored series