The jail time of 40 months will not be that prolific for Bradley C. Birkenfeld when compared to the billions Birkenfeld hopes to receive for his "whistleblowing" efforts. Apparently Mr. Bradley C. Birkenfeld walked into the Justice Department's office and told of secret offshore accounts involving UBS.
If Mr. Birkenfeld is entitled a "reward", I don't think it is ethical that he get more and more money because he sat on the information long enough so that the amount of money that has been discovered has grown as well.
I would split the whistleblower's reward, giving most if to charities, or perhaps, to the 10,000 homeowners who are being foreclosed upon EVERY SINGLE DAY in this country to help modify their home loans.
I would limit what Mr. Birkenfeld goets to a certain time window, A one year window, perhaps just six months. Otherwise, if whistleblowers get more money by holding onto the information for a longer period of time, whistleblowing will have many whistlestops along the way before they actually comes forward.
