Australian federal police begin raiding PwC headquarters amid tax leak scandal | PwC

Australian federal police officers have begun searching documents at PwC Australia's headquarters in response to the devastating tax scandal.

The Treasury referred the matter – which relates to the sharing of confidential multinational tax proposals within the company – to the police in May last year.

In an email to employees on Monday, the company's chief executive Kevin Burrowes said employees should expect police to remain at the Sydney headquarters for “several days.”

“This step is an expected development in connection with an investigation the AFP launched in 2023 into the historic tax matter and individuals who left our company,” Burrowes told employees.

“We have worked with the AFP to facilitate their participation and will continue to cooperate with their investigation.”

Burrowes urged employees to “please carry on as usual and remain focused on the important work we do for our customers and in the community.”

An AFP spokesman said the force would “provide an update in due course” and there was no threat to public safety.

The police investigation, called Operation Alesia, is investigating whether former PwC Australia employees committed a crime by revealing official secrets.

Operation Alesia was considered a priority investigation for the force, which told parliament in February that it had conducted international investigations.

Shortly after the referral to police in May 2023, Finance Minister Steven Kennedy told Parliament that internal PwC emails highlighted “the significant level of unauthorized disclosure of confidential Commonwealth information and the wide range of people within PwC who directly and “were indirectly privy to the confidential information”.

Emails tabled in Parliament revealed a former PwC Australia partner under investigation wrote “for your eyes only” while emailing government secrets to colleagues. This information was then used to acquire customers in the USA.

In a statement, a PwC Australia spokesperson said the company had since “implemented significant governance, business and cultural reforms and our employees remain focused on delivering the best outcomes for our clients and communities.”

The scandal also led to PwC Australia selling its entire 1,750-employee government advisory service to private equity investor Allegro Funds for just $1.

Correspondence released by Federal Parliament last week revealed that PwC International was angry at its Australian subsidiary for damaging the brand's reputation.

In an email, Diana Weiss, PwC International's global general counsel, threatened the Australian company with expulsion from the network unless it gave ultimate control of the company's response to the scandal. She called for a new “network representative” to be installed in Australia.

“All decisions related to the accountability of individuals for the matters addressed in the Senate inquiry and related matters (…) must be reviewed by and agreed upon by myself and the network representative,” Weiss wrote.

“The Company may not make any formal, substantive or substantive submissions or responses (whether oral or written) to any regulatory authority or other governmental or judicial authority on any of the topics until the Network representative and I have reviewed and approved the materials.”