$104 Million Whistleblower Arrested On DUI Charge In Portsmouth, NH
PORTSMOUTH, NH (CBS) - A man who spent two-and-a-half years in prison before he was given $104 million by the IRS for whistleblowing was arrested at a sobriety checkpoint Friday night in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
Portsmouth police say of the 219 drivers they screened, Bradley Birkenfeld, 48, of Rye Beach, New Hampshire was the only person who was arrested.
Birkenfeld made headlines last year when he received the largest whistleblower award ever from the Internal Revenue Service.
Authorities say he provided information about tax evasion schemes involving the Swiss banking system. That information allowed the Treasury to recover $5 billion in owed taxes.
The former banker served prison time related to the case, for trying to help one of his largest clients evade U.S. income taxes.
The IRS whistleblower program offers rewards worth as much as 30 percent of fines or unpaid taxes that the government is able to recover.
