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A little more detail from a neutral source on why Birkenfeld was jailed: http://content.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1928897,00.html http://content.tim

• CalChris 10y ago
  One difference between the two stories is that the Time article says he went to the Feds because of the problem with his bonus. That doesn't make sense because he had already spirited out the UBS documents which he wouldn't have had access to after resigning. He also didn't know at the time that he would eventually get a whistblower bonus. So the separation bonus was real money.
• Lazare 10y ago
  Still seems very shady. His defence, as portrayed in the article, seems to be that they 1) did not offer him a cooperating witness agreement which he would seem to have deserved and 2) was being asked to break serious laws in the country of residence. Conversely, the DoJ's defence, against as portrayed in the article, seems oddly nebulous, and in light of the later IRS decision, probably flat out wrong. Most odd.