Should we trust the banks and the banking industry? The banks and the industry say yes, but the facts and their track record over many years suggest that we shouldn’t trust them. Trevor Kitchen is one man who knows only too well that they are not to be trusted, after he started to track the unusual rise of the Swiss franc.
Trevor’s knowledge and diligence led him to become the key whistleblower in exposing the 2013 Forex scandal. As the Wikipedia entry on the scandal details very concisely, this massive fraud was executed by senior currency traders who operated in named ‘clubs’ such as The Cartel, The Bandits, One Team One Dream, and the Mafia. Alongside indulging in lurid discussions about women and drugs, the participating members of these clubs manipulated the market exchange rates to deliver massive fraudulent gains for themselves and others. At the same time, they defrauded the public. In 2014, fraudulent losses for Britain’s 20.7 million pension holders were estimated to be £7.5 billion per year.
Join Trevor Kitchen and Brian Gerrish as Trevor describes the nature and scale of the Forex fraud, and his treatment by the banking industry and regulators following presentation of his whistleblowing evidence. Far from being praised and protected, Trevor became an enemy of the Swiss banking deep state. He was accused of criminal acts for which he was arrested, strip-searched and imprisoned with the connivance of Portuguese and Dutch authorities, before finally reaching safety in an undeclared location.
Our discussions range from the corrupt global banking industry to the "archaic" criminalisation of calling anyone a fraudster in every continental European country besides Norway; the closing of ranks by the legal fraternity in Switzerland and in every Western country; corruption inside the EU during Neil Kinnock’s reign as Vice-President of the European Commission; the bravery of Dutch whistleblower and former Member of the European Parliament, Paul van Buitenen; corruption inside British city councils; and whitewashing by the EU's Anti-Fraud Office, OLAF.
I worked in the futures and stock markets for over 25 years, as a trader and fund manager, and confirm what Trevor has said. However it is very important to realize that these markets have ALWAYS been the province of the banks and controlled by them for their profit. It has ALWAYS been the way the world works, especially since the Bank of England was established in 1694, which enabled the funding of the expansion of the British Empire. It is NOT an aberration.
The root of the problem is the fraudulent banking system that is controlled by the movers and shakers who actually rule every country. In other words the entire social and economic system worldwide is founded on fraud and corruption. It is impossible to do anything outside this system and if one tries to do so they will be bankrupted in short order. As the Bard observed: "There is something rotten in the State of Denmark". It is often observed that politicians are mere puppets, which begs the question that someone is pulling their strings. It is surely obvious that those who control the money of the nation control the nation. As Mayer Amschel Rothschild is reputed to have said, "Give me control of the money of the nation and I care not who makes its laws".
If you don’t already, I highly recommend watching UK Column News and exploring the wealth of information on their website. This includes the COVID-19 Vaccine Analysis Overview of the UK’s Yellow Card adverse reactions which is updated after the MHRA publishes new data, usually twice monthly.
There is more information regarding Trevor Kitchen’s background and his journey in this excellent article published on the Whistleblower Network News website.
Trevor Kitchen was born in the United Kingdom (UK), but currently, at 70 years of age, resides on the Portuguese island of Madeira. Madeira Island is located in the Atlantic Ocean, about 350 miles from Morocco. There are natural pools formed from lava, beautiful cliffs overlooking the ocean and charming towns. Madeira Island experiences an average temperature of 66 degrees Fahrenheit, and it has been named the best island destination in the world since 2015.
There is trouble in paradise, however, because Trevor Kitchen is a whistleblower, and we all know that the life journey of a whistleblower is oftentimes a tale of deceit, betrayal and retaliation by those who have been exposed for corruption.
Kitchen was involved in finance for over 45 years, mainly with U.S. corporations. When he blew the whistle, he was working as an “independent consultant” involved in “company restructuring, spin-offs, tax analysis, always in financial controlling and reporting.”
In early 2011, Kitchen was working in Switzerland and was shocked to discover that his 700,000 Swiss franc pension had lost all of its value. Kitchen began to investigate why the loss of his pension occurred, and developed a very detailed analysis and database of information concerning the loss. What Kitchen discovered was a massive manipulation of the U.S. dollar (Dollar) and the British sterling pound (Sterling). In August of 2011, Kitchen began his whistleblower journey, notifying several financial oversight agencies in the U.S., U.K., Switzerland, and the European Union of the manipulation of their currency.
Kitchen believed that a major currency trader and several banks in multiple countries “colluded to destroy the Sterling and the Dollar using the Swiss franc as the counterpart currency. To achieve that goal, they had to utilize high frequency trading, various software programming and black box trading techniques that simulate large trades that do not actually exist in the real physical world.” Kitchen demanded an investigation into “these two major foreign currency exchange rate currencies [that] have never in history been influenced to move so drastically and so swiftly, namely the Sterling and the Dollar.” He explained that “only large banks with the assistance of an FX trader using mathematical formulas and algorithms with the help of leveraging can accomplish this.”
Kitchen noted that governments needed to investigate how companies and banks “can destroy a major reserve currency such as the Dollar, along with the Sterling, resulting in chaos in the world financial markets.” Kitchen had specialized in finance all of his life, and understood policies and procedures in companies, and was the right person, in the right place, at the right time to reveal the massive fraud that was taking place in the currency markets.
For individuals who are not familiar with currency trading, algorithms, or black box trading, the bottom line is that trading companies and banks rigged the financial system, and ripped off billions of dollars from the public.
Because of the lack of concrete action by the financial oversight agencies that Kitchen notified in 2011, he again reached out in July of 2012, complaining about the lack of response to his disclosures. He noted: “no wonder the world is in a financial crisis. No one helps the public and the authorities wonder why the public are losing confidence in the leaders and the financial system. It’s simple: because the people meant to be in charge are doing absolutely nothing for the consumers/public.” Kitchen went on to say, “By auditing the destructive movements of the Swiss franc between 2008-2011 against two of the worlds’ major currencies, namely the Dollar and Sterling, I believe this will eventually lead to one of the main reasons the world is in a financial crisis and point to the culprits behind the manipulation. There needs to be an investigation as to why the Dollar and Sterling can lose 118% and 153% respectively against the Swiss franc. Basic accounting and an audit trail will easily prove that the opposite side of these massive losses for the Dollar and Sterling resulted in massive benefits for the Swiss franc.”
Kitchen pointed out that in August 2011, manipulation of the two major currencies (the Dollar and the Sterling) resulted in losses of 12% on each currency in one day, meaning trillions of dollars. Kitchen had never seen major currencies move by that amount, and knew that there had been manipulation by major players, traders, and banks using illegal robotic trading. Kitchen not only notified the financial oversight authorities, but he also named trading companies and banks that were possibly involved in the manipulation of currency.
Kitchen noted to regulators that there were educational institutions that were studying how to “perform cutting-edge computational and evolutionary methods to stimulate markets with artificially intelligent agents and to design real-time trading and risk management systems.” Kitchen saw the future, where “there are breakthroughs in IT and Artificial intelligence based on modeling of markets with operationally relevant features.” As time passed and feeling like nothing was being done, Kitchen wondered if the traders were controlling the regulators, and pointed out a specific situation of a trader heading a regulatory agency, which Kitchen referred to as “a gross conflict of interest.”
Kitchen decided to approach the media, and in June of 2013, Bloomberg News reported on currency dealers that had been front-running client orders and rigging the foreign exchange benchmark rates by colluding with counterparts and pushing trades through before and during the 60-second windows when the benchmark rates are set. It was known as the “Forex Scandal” and involved banks that colluded for at least a decade to manipulate exchange rates for their own financial gain. The monetary losses caused by the manipulation of the forex market have been estimated to represent $11.5 billion per year for Britains’ 20.7 million pension holders, one being Trevor Kitchen. Several other television and press articles followed with Kitchen as a source, and the result was $6 billion of fines levied and collected against banks in various countries.
Kitchen’s strategy was straightforward, and as it happened, effective. He felt that media reports would force regulators to act against the perpetrators of market manipulation and simultaneously put pressure on the banks. A tremendous amount of press coverage forced the banks to conduct their own internal investigations and eventually self-reported to regulators who then investigated the banks which led to successful enforcement actions and the recovery of billions in fines. While blowing the whistle to the media was effective in this case, whistleblower advocates do warn against going to the media without working with experienced whistleblower attorneys.
Kitchen filed his whistleblower information with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2014, and is patiently awaiting the outcome. Kitchen knows that whistleblowing is very “time consuming, and also a psychological burden.” He “seriously” considered avoiding doing it, because he had a fear the banks and traders could retaliate legally to ultimately “wear [him] down financially and physically.” But Kitchen used the media anonymously and the subsequent investigation was opened by the correct authorities. Kitchen planned to stay under the radar awaiting a possible financial reward, but like the old adage, “Man Plans, and God Laughs,” Kitchen found himself off-ramped into a different reality.
In 2011, while Kitchen was living in Switzerland, a Jehovah’s Witness knocked on his door, and was invited in. During the subsequent conversation, the Witness introduced himself as a banker. A relationship was established over the next four years during which time, Kitchen provided investment advice, which resulted in a substantial financial windfall for the banker. Kitchen expected a commission for his advice, but the banker refused. Kitchen accused the banker of reneging on the payment and leveled criticism at him to the man’s bosses and a Swiss legal body. The words used by Kitchen to describe the banker were “parasite” and “plagiarist.” In the United States, and the United Kingdom, words do not lead to criminal charges, but Switzerland and Portugal are two of a handful of nations to treat words as a criminal matter. A Swiss prosecutor issued the criminal warrant for Kitchen, a European warrant was issued for Kitchen’s arrest, and the warrant was used as cause for extradition.
In Switzerland, nine out of ten sentences are handed down by a state prosecutor as “summary penalty orders. This raises constitutional questions as the prosecutor is also the judge. The state prosecutors deal with cases directly, and largely in writing. There is no in-depth examination of the issues, and there are no court proceedings. People are being sent to prison for months after a minimal investigation, without any hearing, legal counsel or judge. State prosecutors usually do not speak to the accused before sending out a penalty order. Most judgements are based on the documents provided to the prosecutor.
Kitchen stated that the Swiss federal government’s pursuit of him “is politically motivated and institutes the abuse of process. It is connected to my whistleblowing activities on the currency manipulation scandal that resulted in billions of fines for Swiss banks.” The Swiss authorities issued an international red alert, “European Arrest Warrant (EAW) across 27 European countries,” which Kitchen noted, “charged me for breaching secrecy and privacy laws, and criminal defamation.” Kitchen stated that Swiss authorities see all whistleblowers as a “serious threat to their economy, mostly its lucrative financial services market and pharmaceutical industry too.”
Kitchen wanted to be clear that whistleblowers in Switzerland are “exposed to vicious retaliation, not only by the very institutions being exposed, but more importantly, by Swiss authorities. Before being subjected to the usual aggressive and malicious treatment by Swiss prosecutors and judiciary, anyone attempting to report fraud are conveniently labelled as criminals and Swiss bashers. Swiss federal judges will generally imprison whistleblowers if they dare expose financial crime that negatively impacts the Swiss economy.”
Kitchen’s European arrest warrant accused him of “crimes against personal honor, violation of privacy and threats,” and on January 19, 2021, Portugal police, under an international arrest warrant, arrested him and placed him in a maximum security prison. Kitchen spent 48 hours in a filthy cell, not allowed to take his medicine, make a phone call, or see his wife. On January 21, Kitchen went to his first court hearing and was released to await further court action. He was informed he had to remain in his house and notify the court if he intended to travel anywhere for more than five days.
A hearing in Lisbon occurred on March 26, with a follow-up in early April. On April 5, three Lisbon judges threw out the Swiss case, and rejected the extradition. The prosecutor appealed and Kitchen faces a Supreme Court hearing on June 9. If he loses the appeal, Kitchen would be extradited to Switzerland to serve 3 years for defaming a banker. Kitchen said, “my wife and I fear for our lives if we ever go to Switzerland. I just want my life back, I want to live peacefully somewhere where I am no longer looking over my shoulder all the time.”
Rudolph Elmer, a Swiss whistleblower who worked as a banker at Julius Bar noted: “I entirely share [Kitchen’s] view about the system of Swiss Justice (particularly the criminal prosecution courts) which are basically used to protect the criminal banks and other dubious organizations as well as individuals which use Switzerland not only as a tax heaven but also as a legal heaven. It is crystal clear if Trevor is extradited to Switzerland he will not face a fair trial at all.”
Bradley Birkenfeld, an American who worked at UBS Group AG, Switzerland, became a whistleblower in 2007, and made a series of disclosures concerning UBS soliciting wealthy Americans to move their assets to Switzerland to avoid taxes. As a result of his whistleblowing, the Swiss financial industry moved away from using money obtained under bank secrecy laws that enabled tax evasion and the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) was able to recover $400 million in taxes. Birkenfeld considers what Switzerland is doing to Trevor Kitchen to be outrageous. “The Swiss think they are immune to justice around the world, they concoct their Mickey Mouse rules to their own selfish, unethical and illegal acts,” Birkenfeld stated. “I suggest the world take immediate notice of this travesty of whistleblower retaliation and boycott everything Swiss!”
Ms. Daniela Senn, Public Prosecutor, Public Prosecutor’s Office, Directorate of Justice, Canton of Zurich, Switzerland was contacted regarding the allegations of Trevor Kitchen that the warrant for arrest issued by her office was retaliation for Kitchen’s whistleblowing. She responded on June 7, 2021 and advised “I cannot give any answer because of pending proceedings.”
Would Kitchen do it again? He responds that he would, “because I can never accept deception and lies, especially when the government is complicit in it at the public taxpayers expense, no matter where in the world.” Kitchen stated that if he had not blown the whistle, his “new slogan would have to be, is the whistleblowing alternative to let corruption thrive?”
On June 15, 2021, the Whistleblower News Network published this update on Trevor’s battle against the attempts by Swiss authorities to extradite him under a European Arrest Warrant.
A Portuguese Court of Appeals ruled against a request from Switzerland for the extradition of whistleblower Trevor Kitchen, a British citizen currently residing on the Mediterranean island of Madeira. The decision goes against the wishes of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, which sought Kitchen’s extradition to Switzerland to face charges of defamation. Kitchen believes the extradition request was retaliation from Swiss authorities for his whistleblowing on currency manipulation.
The ruling was issued by the 3rd Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice on June 9. It upholds a lower decision which was appealed by the Prosecutor’s Office. The Court determined that “the crime that is part of the extradition request (the crime of Misuse of a telecommunication facility) is not punishable by imprisonment of one year or more,” and that it is therefore not sufficient to grant the extradition request.
In 2011, Kitchen began blowing the whistle on large-scale currency manipulation. He exposed a scheme in which a major currency trader and several banks in multiple countries colluded to lower the values of the U.S. dollar and the British sterling pound for their own financial gain.
The Swiss defamation charges stem from emails sent by Kitchen in which he referred to a Swiss banker as a “parasite” and “plagiarist.” Kitchen had given the banker financial advice which led to a substantial financial windfall. Kitchen felt betrayed when he did not receive a commission for his advice.
Kitchen stated in an interview with WNN that the Swiss federal government’s pursuit of him “is politically motivated and institutes the abuse of process. It is connected to my whistleblowing activities on the currency manipulation scandal that resulted in billions of fines for Swiss banks.”
Kitchen further explained that whistleblowers in Switzerland are “exposed to vicious retaliation, not only by the very institutions being exposed, but more importantly, by Swiss authorities. Before being subjected to the usual aggressive and malicious treatment by Swiss prosecutors and judiciary, anyone attempting to report fraud are conveniently labelled as criminals and Swiss bashers. Swiss federal judges will generally imprison whistleblowers if they dare expose financial crime that negatively impacts the Swiss economy.”
The article below relates to Trevor’s most recent detainment in the Netherlands which he discussed during his interview with Brian Gerrish.
Trevor Kitchen, whom Whistleblower Network News has been following since his discovery of currency manipulation by the Swiss government, was detained by Dutch officials on April 21, 2022 at Schiphol airport, Netherlands as he and his wife, Juliet, were traveling, his wife Juliet tells WNN.
The Swiss government had issued an European Arrest Warrant (EAW) earlier, which charged Kitchen with breaching secrecy and privacy laws in order to retaliate against Kitchen. He had been arrested previously in 2021 in Portugal, and three Lisbon judges threw out the case and the Swiss extradition request. The Supreme Court upheld the lower court decision after Swiss officials appealed.
Kitchen subsequently has been living in Portugal awaiting a decision by the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission on his whistleblower claims. He and his wife were enroute to another country in order to spend their retirement years in peace when detained by Dutch officials, according to his wife Juliet. Kitchen is hoping that the Dutch recognize the Portugal Supreme Court decision, and has retained a Dutch lawyer, Mr. Dennis W.H.M. Wolters.
Mr. Wolters has confirmed that Kitchens was arrested at Schiphol Airport on Thursday, April 21, 2022 by the Military Police and is currently detained in the Detention Center at Schiphol Airport.
Kitchen is distressed, and dehydrated and his health is being threatened by this detention, his wife reports. Kitchen had previously noted that he feared for his life if he is extradited to Switzerland as whistleblowers are seen as a serious threat to the Swiss economy. Kitchen notes that “the government’s pursuit of him is politically motivated and institutes the abuse of process. It is connected to whistleblowing activities on the currency manipulation scandal that resulted in billions of fines for Swiss banks.”
Last but not least, I highly recommend listening to this engaging interview with Trevor Kitchen by Jane Turner on the Whistleblower Network News podcast from June 16, 2021. During the decision Trevor makes a very interesting reference to CERN, along with Essex University and others in the UK being used for recruitment into the high tech business of “trading.”
Thank you! Brian gave him a platform which he so desperately needed..... didn't he come over as the most genuine and decent person ever? Too good for this place, and certainly too good for Switzerland.
Thank you! Brian gave him a platform which he so desperately needed..... didn't he come over as the most genuine and decent person ever? Too good for this place, and certainly too good for Switzerland.