MH17 A German private investigation firm acting on behalf of a client is reportedly offering a US$30 million (RM97 million) reward for evidence on who shot down MH17 in July.

The detectives at the Schleswig-Holstein-based firm Wifka said the client is acting through several intermediaries and it does not know his identity, but assured that the offer is legitimate and the reward money is already held in deposit in Zurich.

"Everyone is for sale… It is only a question of the amount," USA Today quoted Wifka's head Josef  Resch as saying, citing an article by the German-language business magazine Capital .

The magazine reportedly said this the largest bounty ever offered, eclipsing the US$25 million offered for information leading to the late al-Qaeda chief Osama Laden’s capture.
 
Resch reportedly told the magazine that his firm has already been paid US$50,000 (RM161,800) in fees, and can claim a further US$650,000 (RM2.1 million) if it can find a whistle-blower.
 
The firm promised that it works on an “absolutely confidential basis” and even offered a new identity for whistle-blowers, but it urged anyone offering information to be cautious.
 
“The agency advises whistle-blowers to take great care; e.g. to contact them through a lawyer.
 
“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,” Wifka’s website said.
 
The website lists the following as the questions that it wants answers for:
  • Who shot down MH17 on July 17?
  • Who gave the order?
  • Who covers up the shoot down? (Also, if it was by accident and not due to political, economic or military motivation)
  • Who can provide details on the circumstances that led to the shoot down?
  • Who was directly involved with the shoot down?
  • What happened to the people that were involved with the shoot down? What happened to the weapon used?
  • Who can name the people that cleared the shoot down?
'Not ruling out any possibilities'

In the interview with Capital , USA Today said Resch is not ruling out any possibilities about his client’s identity, whether he is politically or economically motivated.

 
His speculations included intelligence services, Russian oligarchs hurt by Western sanctions and seeking to drive Russian President Vladimir Putin from office, or the Kremlin attempting to elicit false evidence that would pin the shooting on the Ukrainian government.
 
MH17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine on July 17, in a conflict zone controlled by pro-Russian armed separatist. All 298 persons onboard were killed.
 
A Dutch preliminary investigation report said the destruction of the Boeing 777-200ER aircraft was due to impact by “large number of high-energy objects” from outside the aircraft, which caused the aircraft to disintegrate in mid-air.
 
The description is consistent with impact by missile shrapnel, and Ukraine and Russia has accused each other of responsibility for the shooting.
 
Ukraine claims that separatist forces had shot down the aircraft using Russian-supplied Buk surface-to-air missiles, while Russia denies supplying arms to eastern Ukraine and claims that Ukrainian ground-attack aircraft had been in close proximity to MH17 at the time of the shooting.
 
Meanwhile, separatists forces in eastern Ukraine such as the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic claimed that it never possessed missiles that could fly high enough to hit a cruising airliner.
 
A final investigation report is expected after mid-2015, while Dutch-led investigation team work towards securing access to the crash site and recovering pieces of the aircraft’s wreckage for forensic analysis.