Pursuits
HSBC Nemesis Falciani Mocks Swiss Justice a Mile From Border
- Falciani has vowed to skip criminal trial set for Nov. 2
- Charged with industrial espionage, breaking bank secrecy
Herve Falciani. Photographer: Jean-Philippe Ksiazek/AFP via Getty Images
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Herve Falciani, the Frenchman wanted on charges of industrial espionage in Switzerland, has opted to skip his trial at the country’s top court and instead plead his case before a jury of journalists at a French hotel, less than a mile from the Swiss border.
The Frenchman was the star attraction at a conference billed “Investigative Journalism in the Time of Wikileaks” Wednesday at the Domaine de Divonne. The hotel and casino is a 20-minute drive from Geneva, where Falciani took client data from HSBC Holdings Plc’s private bank nearly a decade ago.