There’s a story doing the rounds about a French software engineer called Hervé Falciani who has apparently stolen banking records from HSBC’s private bank in Switzerland. The alleged ‘offence’ took place three years ago, but the man in question has been taking his time in selling the information on to the likes of HMRC because of facing prosecution in Switzerland.
He has avoided prosecution by moving to the South of France, and is being hailed by some as a modern day Robin Hood. However, the man is certainly benefitting substantially from his crime in the form of cash paid for data stolen – and so he has not stolen the records for the good of anyone’s health other than his own.
According to the Times, HMRC is about to get its hands on records relating to British customers who hold accounts at HSBC in Switzerland – and I doubt that they are acquiring them for nothing from Hervé Falciani. So, what does this tell us? Well, on the one hand, if you’ve been using a private bank account with HSBC in Switzerland to evade taxation you need to be worried – and on the other hand it tells us that our government says that theft is a lesser crime than tax evasion. Personally I find that very, very hard to stomach…
The argument for supporting Hervé Falciani’s actions is that no one should be allowed to get away with avoiding their duty to pay taxation. This man allegedly stole the customer records when he worked for HSBC because he felt it was wrong that there are people out there who can use offshore bank accounts, trust and company structures to avoid paying tax that is legitimately owed. However, this man is no saint. If you support the alleged reasons for him committing his crime – because come on, when has stealing personal data been anything but a criminal offence – do you also support the fact that he has held the data out like a fat juicy carrot to tax authorities the world over and profited from his crime?
Hervé Falciani has benefitted substantially from his crime. He is allegedly a money-grabbing criminal – he is no better than those whose data he has stolen. In fact – he is probably WORSE than many whose data he has stolen because what’s to say that anyone who banks with HSBC’s private bank in Switzerland is evading or avoiding taxation? Those who bank privately are usually high net worth individuals who require and can afford to pay for a high level of customer service. They have private bank accounts so that they are treated as they would expect to be for the fees they pay!
Just because you have a private bank account, it does not mean you’re a tax-evading criminal. However, if you steal private data and then tout it around and get paid for it by the likes of HMRC and the French tax authority, that does make you a criminal of the lowest order! Data theft is a serious crime – it results in people losing out every day on an international scale. What Hervé Falciani has done is nothing more than common theft – and just as the government is keen to crack down on those who avoid taxation, I personally think this man should be tried and if found guilty, convicted and sent to prison. You cannot profit by selling on personal data – it is wrong. It is a crime.
How can our government say that theft is a lesser crime than tax evasion? You tell me.
