AKIPRESS.COM - 
German private detectives, acting on behalf of a mysterious client, are offering a $30 million reward for evidence showing who shot down Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 that crashed in eastern Ukraine with 298 passengers and crew aboard.
Wifka, a private investigation firm in Schleswig-Holstein that specializes in fraud cases, says the offer is legitimate and the reward money is already being held on deposit in Zurich, reports USA Today.
Wifka says on its website that the reward will be paid in Zurich or "in a different neutral place of the whistleblower's choice."
But even the German sleuths don't know the identity of their client, who has operated through various intermediaries, including one with a Swiss accent.
Josef Resch, who runs Wifka, tells the German business magazine Capitalthat the firm has already been paid more than $50,000 in fees and holds a $650,000 retainer that it can claim if it succeeds in landing a whistleblower.
Capital calls the bounty the largest in history, surpassing the $25 million offered for clues leading to the capture of Osama Bin Laden.
Wifka says it works on an "absolutely confidential basis" and offers to give any whistleblower a "new identity."
It also advises any would-be tipster to be careful.
"The agency advises whistleblowers to take great care; e.g. to contact them through a lawyer," Wifka says. "Details should not lightly be given away in emails or on the phone. A secure way of communication will be established for every individual case."
Its website lays a precise list of what the client wants to find out:
•Who shot down MH17 on July 17?
•Who gave the order?
•Who covered up the shootdown? (Also, if it was by accident and not out of political, economic or military motivation)
•Who can provide details on the circumstances that led to the shootdown?
•Who was directly involved with the shootdown?
•What happened to the people that were involved with the shootdown? What happened to the weapon used?
•Who can name the people that cleared the shootdown?