Herve Falciani, a former HSBC employee whose leak of private-bank account data triggered tax-evasion probes in several countries, was released by a Spanish judge less than a day after being arrested by police in Madrid on an extradition request by Swiss authorities.
Judiciary police detained Falciani in the capital on Wednesday, and the Frenchman appeared in court on Thursday where Spanish prosecutors recommended he be detained pending a decision on extradition. The judge, however, left him free to go while requiring him to surrender his passport and report weekly to police.
