A former banker, recently released from jail, has been awarded $104m (£65m) by US tax authorities for his whistle-blowing role in outing US tax cheats.
Bradley Birkenfeld, who used to work for UBS, received the staggering sum - possibly the highest ever payout for an individual whistle-blower - for exposing the methodologies used by the Swiss bank to help wealthy US citizens avoid paying tax.
In 2009, the bank coughed up a $780m (£484m) fine in the case and agreed to assisting the IRS by handing over identity and account details of around 5,000 Americans.
Despite helping the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and other US authorities, Birkenfeld, 47, was jailed for his own role in helping an American client avoid paying US tax on $200m (£124m) in assets, having pleaded guilty in 2008.
Over 30,000 Americans are now said to have voluntarily revealed their offshore accounts to US tax authorities following the huge publicity around the case.
In a statement provided by Birkenfeld's lawyers, Stephen Kohn and Dean Zerbe, to Associated Press on Tuesday, they said : 'The IRS today sent 104 million messages to whistle-blowers around the world - that there is now a safe and secure way to report tax fraud and that the IRS is now paying awards.
'The IRS also sent 104 million messages to banks around the world - stop enabling tax cheats or you will get caught.'
The IRS awarded the money to Birkenfeld - who was released from prison last month after serving 30 months - under a 2006 law set up to encourage and reward whistle-blowers to report on large-scale tax evaders.
Since the start of the financial crisis, HMRC has paid out over £1m to whistleblowers who provide information about tax evaders.
Figures released by HMRC, under the Freedom of Information Act, to the investigative website Exaro, show payments have gone up by a fifth in the last year, rising to £374,000 in 2011/12 and were double the amount paid out five years ago. In comparison HMRC paid out £309,620 in 2010/11, £384,110 in 2009/10, £281,000 in 2008/09, and £155,950 in 2007/08.