French bank threatens tax dodging whistleblower’s life

In this 15 April 2019 French language video from France, Ms Stéphanie Gibaud, whistleblower on the UBS bank tax dodging scandal, speaks about the imprisonment of another whistleblower, Julian Assange.

Translated from Belgian weekly Humo, 16 April 2019:

How private Bank UBS helps the super rich bypass the tax authorities: whistleblower Stéphanie Gibaud reveals

For ten years, Stéphanie Gibaud had the job of her life at private bank UBS France.

A branch of the Swiss UBS bank.

Until she discovered that her employer organized tax dodging for the super rich on a large scale. “After the first police search we were ordered:” Erase your hard drive and dump your files. “But I took everything home and mapped the secret accounts, tax havens and secret codes.” Stéphanie Gibaud became a whistleblower, and her life turned into hell.

“I received threatening letters. My lawyer said: “Do not stand too close to the tracks when you take the metro, and be careful when you cross the street”

“You recognize me by my long red coat”, Stéphanie Gibaud texted five minutes before our appointment in a Parisian brasserie. The e-mail traffic that preceded this interview went through a secure address. She asks to sit at the back, in the darkest corner of the cafe.

Stéphanie Gibaud: “No, I am not paranoid. But I no longer trust the technology. Since I collided frontally with UBS France, I know they have the means to hack my smartphone and read my e-mails. When I had made a deal with the Ministry of Finance, UBS was immediately informed. I’m sure nobody had leaked. They could only know that by spying on me.»

In February 2019, a French court convicted private bank UBS to a record fine of 4.5 billion euro. That conviction was a direct consequence of the overwhelming evidence which whistleblower Stéphanie Gibaud had collected.