A SWISS BANKING WHISTLEBLOWER has handed WikiLeaks two CDs of details with the details of offshore bank accounts held by celebrities and other high-profile figures.

At a press event in London this lunchtime, Rudolf Elmer handed Julian Assange the CDs, which he says contain the account details of 2,000 prominent figures; Assange has promised to publish the data once the information had been verified.

Elmer – himself a former banker, before his sacking from Swiss bank Julius Bauer nine years ago – said the figures included at least 40 politicians, and detailed the accounts held at three banks, the BBC reports.

Though Elmer admits he has previously leaked documents to the site, Assange said the WikiLeaks organisation was structured in such a way that he could not personally say whether Elmer was a source.

Assange, accepting the details – which, Storyful estimates, were likely already transferred to WikiLeaks ahead of the media event – said his organisation had received more legal threats from banks than from any other industry.

The details on the CDs would be handed over to professionals for verification, he said, before they were published; the Guardian said he was unable to indicate when the data might be published.

Elmer said he had previously offered the data to Germany’s then-finance minister Peer Steinbruck, who served between 2005 and 2009, but that he had not received a response to his offer.

Elmer was the head of Julius Bauer’s operations in the Cayman Islands before his dismissal; Assange said the bank had previously campaigned to have the wikileaks.org domain name taken down.

Speaking to the Observer yesterday, Elmer said he was sure that the bank accounts had been held offshore for tax evasion purposes.