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Ex-WikiLeaks Staffer Deletes Major Bank's Files From Servers

File photo, Bank of America (AP)
File photo, Bank of America (AP)

Bank of America may have averted a bombshell. The whistle-blower organization WikiLeaks says in a statement that a disaffected former staffer deleted documents that are believed to be from what’s the largest retail bank in Massachusetts.

WikiLeaks attracted worldwide attention last year by publishing diplomatic cables. It also promised to release in January internal documents from a major U.S. bank. The head of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, had said previously that the website had received a hard drive used by a Bank of America executive.

The Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America prepared for what could have been a public relations crisis — or not, depending on what the documents revealed.

But WikiLeaks never published the documents. Now the reason may be known.

WikiLeaks says a former staffer named Daniel Domscheit-Berg had a falling out with Assange, and that when he left, Domscheit-Berg deleted files from WikiLeaks’ servers, including “banking” data.

Domscheit-Berg has not confirmed that detail. However, in an interview with the German magazine Der Spiegel, he said that he wiped classified documents including the complete U.S. no-fly list, which had been leaked to WikiLeaks.

Earlier:

This program aired on August 22, 2011. The audio for this program is not available.

Headshot of Curt Nickisch

Curt Nickisch Business & Technology Reporter
Curt Nickisch was formerly WBUR's business and technology reporter.

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