HM Revenue & Customs is about to get its hands on the account details of 24,000 taxpayers, stolen from the Swiss arm of HSBC. According to various reports, some data was reputedly purchased from French software engineer and information thief, Hervé Falciani, by the French finance ministry as part of a clamp down on tax evasion.

Up to 6,600 wealthy Britons suspected of evading tax are included on the list according to the the Sunday Times. HMRC expects to receive details of British account holders from its French counterpart as part of an information exchange any day now.

“It’s fair to say that the prospect of getting hold of this information has generated some excitement here,” a senior tax official told the Times.

Whatever floats your boat.

HMRC has form when it comes to receiving stolen info – it is understood that they paid around £100,000 last year for stolen details of UK taxpayers with bank accounts in Liechtenstein.

Government authorities incentivising one crime to tackle another – hey, we’re in a financial crisis, sod the rule of law. Try cost-benefit analysis instead.