Frankfurter Rundschau, 1 February 2010

Having already supplied French authorities with a list of 3,000 French citizens with Swiss bank accounts last August, Hervé Falciani is planning a similar initiative in Germany. The former HSBC computer engineer is offering German tax authorities a CD-rom containing the names of 1,300 Germans who stashed money in accounts held at the Swiss subsidiary of the British bank. In exchange for the 2.5 million euros demanded by Falciani, Berlin will be able to recover between 100 and 200 million euros in lost tax revenue. "But should the state make use of stolen goods? Can data that was acquired illegally be used in a trial in a state of law?" wonders Frankfurter Rundschau. After a quick wrestle with its conscience, the daily finally concludes that tax authorities have a right to self defense to recover money that is being illegally withheld.