Switzerland requests extradition of whistleblower Falciani
Falciani was sentenced in absentia by a Swiss court to a five-year jail term for breaking Swiss banking secrecy laws and economic espionage
Keystone
Switzerland has filed an official request for Spain to extradite bank whistleblower Hervé Falciani, following his arrest in Madrid. Falciani has been on the run since 2015 after being handed a five-year jail sentence in absentia in Switzerland.
“The Federal Office of Justice on April 5 transmitted a formal request for extradition via diplomatic channels,” a Swiss Justice Ministry spokesman told Reuters in an emailed statement on Thursday.
On the same day a Spanish court released Falciani from custody after confiscating his passport, limiting his freedom of movement within Spain and ordering police surveillance on the IT specialist while the extradition request is being reviewed.
The former IT worker of HSBC private bank in Geneva, who was behind the so-called Swiss Leaks scandal on tax evasion, was arrested in the streets of the Spanish capital on his way to a conference on Wednesday.
Falciani stole the data, containing more than 100,000 client names, from his former employer, HSBC private bank in Geneva, and attempted to sell them to several foreign governments. He eventually gave the files to then French finance minister Christine Lagarde – after which they were dubbed the “Lagarde list”.
Wanted man
The disclosure of this data has had an unprecedented impact. It allowed a consortium of several media outlets to reveal External linkthat nearly $120 billion (CHF116 billion) had passed through the HSBC bank in order to avoid taxes or to be laundered via front companies.
Falciani fled to Spain and then France, where he is protected from extradition by his French citizenship. In 2015, he was sentenced in absentia by a Swiss court to a five-year jail term for breaking Swiss banking secrecy laws and economic espionage.
Falciani said the verdict was politically motivated and has refused to enter Switzerland to serve his term.
Popular Stories
More
Climate adaptation
Why Switzerland is among the ten fastest-warming countries in the world
This content was published on
Solar energy pioneer Raphaël Domjan and his team continued preparations for the altitude record attempt at 10,000 metres with the SolarStratos solar aircraft.
This content was published on
Cattle in the canton of Geneva and in the neighbouring region of Terre Sainte in the canton of Vaud are being vaccinated against the contagious viral skin nodule disease. The first cases of the animal disease were reported at the end of June in France, just outside Geneva.
Fewer attacks on Swiss ATMs but their future remains uncertain
This content was published on
Bank ATMs in Switzerland are less prone to attacks by criminals, but their future remains uncertain given the less active use of cash by the population.
This content was published on
A series of rockfalls occurred above the village of Brienz between 9 and 12 July. According to the municipality of Albula, the overall situation remains tense. Several people disregarded the ban on entering the area around the village.
This content was published on
Arosa Bergbahnen achieved the highest figure in its 95-year history in the 2024/25 financial year with net revenue of CHF 37 million. Arosa Lenzerheide was able to capitalise on strengths such as snow reliability and the size of the ski area in a long winter season, the company announced on Thursday.
This content was published on
Unknown perpetrators stole ceramic dental implants during a break-in at a company in Oensingen, northern Switzerland, on Tuesday night.
Euro 2025: Bern prepares for massive parade ahead of Switzerland-Spain game
This content was published on
The last Euro 2025 match to be played in Bern, the quarterfinal between Spain and Switzerland at 9pm on Friday, promises to be a great celebration of football.
Clariant faces further ethylene price-fixing claim
This content was published on
Swiss chemicals group Clariant is facing a further claim for damages in connection with ethylene price-fixing agreements.
This content was published on
The Grande Dixence dam in Lower Valais is closed to visitors due to a rockfall last weekend. The nearby hotel also had to temporarily suspend operations for safety reasons.
Falciani confirms no-show at ‘political’ Swiss trial
This content was published on
“This trial was called for by a bank [HSBC], which put the money on the table so as not to be tried,” Falciani told reporters at a press conference in Divonne, France, north of Geneva, on Wednesday. Viewed by the Swiss authorities as a data thief who betrayed his employer, Falciani failed to appear at…
This content was published on
A statement issued by the National Court on Wednesday said that it rejected the charges the Swiss authorities are seeking to bring against Hervé Falciani. The IT specialist is wanted for allegedly stealing information between 2006 and 2007 relating to 24,000 customers of the Swiss division of HSBC. Falciani has acknowledged taking the data but…
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.