“The Lichtenstein Leak”

Hankering to write a novel of international suspense? With a financial twist? Start taking notes on the Senate report on offshore tax dodging and the hearings now under way.

Caught in the investigative headlights are UBS, the Swiss bank, and LGT, run by the royal family of Lichtenstein.

A sample to get your novelist juices flowing:

The hearing will also include videotaped testimony from Heinrich Kieber, a German citizen and a former low-level employee of LGT, who is in the witness protection program.

In recent years, Mr. Kieber stole LGT client records and turned them over to German authorities, igniting a tax-evasion probe in Germany. Some of the records have made their way to the Internal Revenue Service, which is investigating 100 American citizens with LGT accounts.

In the videotape, Mr. Kieber is disguised and his voice is altered. The royal family of Liechtenstein has hired private detectives to track him down.