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Detectives from the Australian Federal Police have raided the offices of consultancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers as part of an investigation into former staff.
The offices of international consultants and auditors PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in Sydney’s Barangaroo—at the southern end of the Sydney Harbour Bridge—have been raided by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) as part of an ongoing investigation into the leaking of confidential information.
The AFP are expected to remain there for days.
The firm had advised the government on new laws to cut down on tax avoidance by multinational corporations.
As part of that work, it had access to secret Treasury documents, which it then allegedly leaked to clients—including Google, Uber, and Facebook—to help them avoid the effects of those laws.
As a result, PwC’s then head of international tax, Peter Collins, was banned by the Tax Practitioners Board, though it later came to light that other former staff were also implicated.
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It eventually emerged that PwC had advised at least 14 companies on how to avoid the law, earning itself at least $2.5 million in fees.
The affair also claimed two of the company’s CEOs: Luke Sayers, who headed the firm when the breaches by Peter Collins occurred, and Tom Seymour, who was in charge when the subsequent cover-up occurred. It also led to PwC selling its entire government advisory service, with 1,750 staff, to private equity investor Allegro Funds for just one dollar.
A Senate Inquiry later concluded that PwC had engaged in a deliberate strategy over many years to conceal breaches of confidentiality.
Eight Staff Sacked For Misconduct
In its 2024 annual report, PwC revealed it had sacked eight staff for serious misconduct during the past year.That document also showed a sharp downturn in earnings as government work was withheld, and private sector clients avoided the firm after news of the tax scandal broke. Before losing the trust of the federal government, the entity was PwC’s single biggest client, with over $500 million in yearly contracts by 2023.
In an email to staff sent on Nov. 4, PwC Australia CEO Kevin Burrowes said, “This step is an expected development in relation to an investigation the AFP commenced in 2023 into the historical tax matter and individuals who have left our firm.
“We have been working with the AFP to facilitate its attendance, and we will continue to co-operate with its investigation.An AFP spokesperson said it would “provide an update at an appropriate time.”
The investigation, dubbed Operation Alesia, is examining whether former PwC Australia staff committed a crime by disclosing official secrets.
The AFP has deemed it a priority investigation.
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