Rogues: True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels and Crooks

The essay begins with the December 2008 arrest of Hervé Falciani, an employee of Swiss banking giant HSBC (Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation). Given the sacrosanct nature of privacy in Swiss banking law, the arrest of an employee for suspected data theft was “shocking” (206). After Falciani persuaded investigators to let him return home to his family and resume questioning later, he fled to his parents in the south of France. The data Falciani stole comprised a trove of useful evidence about tax evasion, a significant global problem, representing as much as “$21 trillion beyond the reach of tax authorities” (208). During the 2008 recession, French authorities saw Falciani as a moral crusader.

Keefe was struck by Falciani’s conventional good looks and immaculate dress during their first meeting in 2014. Falciani grew up in Monaco, another global financial center that facilitates tax evasion, and became a specialist in data security. When he joined the company, HSBC had a reputation for transactions that aided corrupt regimes and organized crime, as well as for helping clients store assets in overseas shell corporations that existed only for this purpose. Swiss banks tended to operate without paper records, in face-to-face meetings and telephone calls.

In 2011, Falciani discovered he could access HSBC account information through a systems error he chose not to report to his superiors. Other experts admit this required a high degree of technical skill, which Falciani attributes to outside assistance from a secret organization called “The Network” (213). Other investigators dispute that such an organization exists, and stress that Falciani’s main collaborator was former colleague Georgina Mikhael, a Lebanese woman with whom he was also romantically involved.

Keefe next turns to the international repercussions of Falciani’s disclosure. The French government decrypted his data, which caused diplomatic friction with Switzerland. Other European governments, including Italy and the UK, asked for Falciani’s data pertaining to their citizens, creating an “existential crisis” in Switzerland (215-16). The situation was particularly explosive in Greece, as its government had implemented harsh spending cuts in response to the 2008 recession, only for Falciani to expose their private fortunes abroad.

Swiss authorities were particularly critical of Falciani because their investigations suggested he had attempted to sell the data during a trip to Lebanon with Mikhael, who claimed they had set up a company together for this purpose. Falciani insisted the sale offer was a ruse to “trap” (219) Swiss authorities into investigating him, to ensure they would also find HSBC’s malfeasance. While Mikhael was disillusioned by Falciani’s affairs with other women and refusal to leave his wife, Falciani claimed he had never trusted her because she likely had connections to terrorism. Keefe emphasizes Falciani’s “bewilderment” (219) at the sudden and incredible turn in the story. The French government insists, when Keefe asks, that however dubious some of his claims about his life might be, Falciani’s data are valid.

By 2012, Swiss banking practices were increasingly under scrutiny. Former German chancellor Angela Merkel even suggested the use of stolen data was legitimate if it led to prosecuting financial crime. Falciani insists he has never profited from his data theft, successfully evading extradition to Switzerland after a 2012 trip to Spain. Keefe points out that, outside Switzerland, he is viewed as a “whistleblower” rather than a “thief” (224).

In 2014, Falciani’s complete list of account holders was published in the French newspaper Le Monde, and Keefe suspects, but cannot prove, that much of the data was subsequently used by the IRS and US Justice Department. The Swiss government pursued its case against Falciani, who continued to seek a prominent international profile. HSBC paid fines to the Swiss government, but former bankers Keefe interviews suggest that this was a performative gesture, given the close ties between HSBC and the state.

In 2016, Keefe visits HSBC, meeting only with a public relations specialist who reminds him that tax evasion will continue in other countries, whatever the fate of Swiss privacy laws. Some state laws in the US, for example, make it particularly easy to establish corporations that only exist on paper but still hold assets. Keefe’s research indicates that compliance with international law has not been a priority at HSBC; officials who made it a priority were often fired.

Falciani’s efforts were soon eclipsed by the 2016 scandal surrounding the Panama Papers, a trove of documents from the firm Mossack Fonseca, revealing its role in creating tax shelters for individuals and their banks, including HSBC. In one of his conversations with Keefe, Falciani expressed little optimism his leak would create any systemic change in the financial industry. He did, however, insist that he was proud he had changed Switzerland’s global image, emphasizing the power of “corruption” in the nation’s culture (231). In his conclusion, Keefe states that Falciani still lives in Spain, where the government continues to protect him from Swiss extradition.