Mystery informant claims US$47 million reward for revealing ‘truth’ on MH17

An anonymous informant has reportedly come forward with information about the Malaysia Airlines MH17 crash which killed 298 people last year. – Reuters pic, June 20, 2015.

A mystery whistleblower has reportedly come forward with information about the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crash, making the individual eligible for a US$47 million (RM175.75 million) reward.

According to a report by UK daily The Independent, German private detective Josef Resch said an unnamed person had come forward with details of the crash but refused to comment on the informant’s identity or the nature of the information.

Resch, who was hired in 2014 by an anonymous client to uncover the truth behind the MH17 tragedy, added that all dealings with the informant had been conducted through a Swiss middleman.

“Our clients have got the information they wanted to get, so my job is finished,” the Telegraph quoted Resch as saying.

“I expect something will happen very soon. Anyone who pays that kind of money for information does not keep it to himself.”

Resch said he was restricted by a non-disclosure agreement from revealing the information himself but Pan-Arab television news channel Al Arabiya said the informant had allegedly told Resch that pro-Russian forces were responsible for the crash, and that the separatists had mistaken the plane for a military aircraft.

“I have a request – that my client makes the information public,” Resch was quoted as saying. “But I have a fear it will be handled internally.”

Resch added that his client had paid the entire amount to the informant, reportedly one of the largest such rewards in history.

Flight MH17 was en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was shot down over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014. All 298 passengers and crew members on board the Malaysia Airlines jetliner – the majority of them Dutch – died.

Kiev and the West have claimed that the airliner was shot down in the conflict-torn area by separatist fighters using a BUK surface-to-air missile supplied by Russia. Moscow denies the charges, pointing the finger at Kiev.

Kiev in February signed a shaky peace deal with separatists in its troubled rebel-held east, where months of fighting have left more than 6,000 people dead.

The Netherlands has been tasked with leading the investigation into the cause of the crash. An official inquiry is expected to publish its findings this summer.