Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) -The latest twist in the increasingly tangled tale of client data stolen from HSBC in Geneva comes from the thief himself, formerly known as Hervé Falciani. The former HSBC computer system employee who now lives under a new identity in the south of France told French journalists from Nice Matin that in August 2008 he was kidnapped by two men in a van in Geneva’s Champel district. The men were of unclear Middle Eastern origin, perhaps Israeli, says Falciani, who accuses his Lebanese girlfriend at the time of being part of a plot to discredit him.

The Lebanese link has surfaced following accusations by Switzerland that Falciani was trying to sell the names and other information about bank clients, which he acknowledges he stole, to several governments, notably Lebanon.

The French government’s budget minister, Eric Woerth, Tuesday 21 December told reporters in Beijing, where he is on an official visit, that France will continue to use the bank data stolen from Switzerland to pursue taxpayer judicial and criminal investigations. Woerth argues that the US, Germany and Italy have done so, and France will use information it obtains to chase taxpayers who may have avoided taxes through fraud.

The data was stolen by Hervé Falciani, in 2006 and 2007, according to the Swiss government, which opened an investigation into the theft in May 2008. It asked France, where Falciani had fled, for judicial assistance, but the details of the case have come to light only in the past week. The media stories that began to spring up in early December incorrectly implied only that a former bank employee had given data to the French government, possibly to the surprise of the Swiss government and the bank itself.

Bern says that Falciani began to treat the data codes so the information could be shared outside the bank and that he intended to  sell it. Falciani, who has been given a new identity by the French government to protect him, is living in the south of France. He argues that he acted out of a sense of duty.

Switzerland has suspended a double taxation treaty with France that it expected to sign in February 2010 while it awaits more information from the French. It charges Falciani with breaking bank secrecy laws in Switzerland and with theft.

Political observers interviewed by Swiss public radio RSR Monday evening noted that Switzerland is able to put pressure on France, as it has done in previous tax spats covering several years, because Swiss banks have loaned large amounts of money to France and because some French officials may themselves have illegal bank accounts in Switzerland.

Links to other sites: Le Temps background and Falciani’s kidnap saga (Fre), Nice Matin,  NZZ (Ger)

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