Michel Christopher "Christoph" Meili was born on 21 April 1968 and is a Swiss-American whistleblower and former security professional.
13 Facts About Christoph Meili
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In 1997, Meili illegally disclosed to third parties that Swiss bank Union Bank of Switzerland was destroying documentation of Holocaust-era assets.
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Christoph Meili's disclosure was one of the factors prompting a US$1.25 billion settlement between multiple Swiss banks and Jewish victims in August 1998.
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Christoph Meili returned to Switzerland having spent all his settlement money and to mixed reception by Swiss papers.
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In early 1997, Christoph Meili was working as a night guard at the Union Bank of Switzerland in Zurich.
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Christoph Meili discovered that officials at UBS were destroying documents about orphaned assets, believed to be credit balances of deceased Jewish clients whose heirs' whereabouts were unknown, as well as books from the German Reichsbank.
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The documents Christoph Meili saved reportedly predate the Nazi period, dating from 1897 to 1927.
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The Zurich authorities opened a judicial investigation against Christoph Meili for suspected violations of the Swiss laws on banking secrecy, which is a prosecutable offense ex officio in Switzerland.
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In Die Weltwoche, a Swiss newspaper, Christoph Meili criticized Fagan for having purportedly "instrumentalized" him and letting him down.
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Christoph Meili claimed to have never received the US$1 million that he was due according to their agreement after settling with the Swiss banks in 1998.
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However, according to a report by the Swiss magazine Facts, Christoph Meili did receive US$750,000.
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Christoph Meili studied communication sciences at Chapman University after his arrival in California.
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In 2009, divorced from his wife, Christoph Meili returned to Switzerland.