Prosecutor to appeal whistleblower Elmer verdict
Bank whistleblower Rudolf Elmer faces another legal battle after the Zurich prosecutor decided to appeal an earlier verdict that he had not broken bank secrecy laws when he passed data to outside sources.
The Swiss Federal Court may now look again into whether the former Julius Bär banker was guilty of more serious offences than those decided by a Zurich court in August.
Elmer was sentenced to 14 months in jail, suspended for three years, after being found guilty of making threats to the bank and former colleagues. He was described by the judge as a “common criminal” rather than a violator of banking secrecy laws.
It was not proved to the Zurich court’s satisfaction that Elmer was an employee of a Swiss bank as he worked in a Cayman Islands subsidiary. This placed him outside the jurisdiction of Swiss banking secrecy laws.
The Zurich prosecutor’s office said on Friday that it would appeal this verdict and attempt to have Elmer convicted of the more serious offence by the Swiss Federal Court. If found guilty, Elmer would face a more severe punishment.
In August, Elmer also expressed dissatisfaction with the Zurich court verdict, hinting that he would appeal against his conviction for making threats.
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