A Spanish judge on Thursday released on bail Herve Falciani, a former HSBC computer analyst detained in Madrid at the request of Switzerland for leaking documents alleging widespread tax evasion. The National Court judge seized Falciani's passport and said the 46-year-old French-Italian national would not be able to move from his home in Spain while his extradition request is considered, according to the ruling seen by AFP.
He also said Falciani would need authorisation to leave the town where he lives and must appear before court once a week. Falciani worked for the Swiss branch of HSBC and became known as the "the man who terrifies the rich" after leaking information in 2008 that alleged HSBC helped clients evade billions of dollars in taxes - a scandal that became known as "Swiss Leaks."
The information he leaked indicated that HSBC's Swiss private banking arm helped more than 120,000 clients to hide 180.6 billion euros ($222 billion) from tax authorities. A Swiss court in 2015 convicted Falciani of aggravated industrial espionage and handed him a five-year jail sentence.
But he did not attend his trial and has avoided Switzerland since.
He was arrested in Madrid on Wednesday at the request of Switzerland just as he was on his way to a conference about the need to protect whistleblowers. Spanish police had initially said the Swiss arrest warrant was issued last month but Switzerland's justice ministry clarified Thursday it was actually put out in May 2017, raising questions as to why the detention only happened now.
Falciani's arrest comes as two prominent Catalan separatist leaders have fled to Switzerland to avoid legal proceedings over their role in the region's independence drive, one of whom is targeted by a Spanish international arrest warrant.