AFP officers raid PwC Sydney office as part of tax leaks probe

AFP officers will sift through documents and computers at PwC’s Sydney office in an escalation of its investigation into the audit and consulting giant’s Treasury disclosure probe.

PwC CEO Kevin Burrowes said the AFP would be combing through records for several days. Picture: Liam Mendes

Australian Federal Police officers have raided the Sydney office of audit and consulting giant PwC Australia as they prepare for days of searches through the firm’s systems as part of a probe into its misuse of confidential government documents.

Plain clothes detectives entered the firm’s Barangaroo headquarters early on Monday, with PwC chief executive Kevin Burrowes saying the AFP would be combing through records for several days.

The move comes as the AFP prepares to appear before Senate estimates next week, with police known to be examining Pwc’s international links to the tax ­scandal.

In an email to partners on Monday, Mr Burrowes said the AFP arrival was “an expected ­development in relation to an investigation … 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,” he said.

“Despite the potential for distraction, let’s all encourage our teams to continue business as usual and remain focused on their important work with our clients and in the community.”

The escalation of the police probe comes as parliament prepares to hand down a report into the audit and accounting sector in light of the scandal surrounding PwC, with Greens senator Barbara Pocock saying the firm had lost its “social licence”. PwC has been in the public glare for more than a year, after the firm was revealed to have used confidential government tax briefings provided as part of a private consultation round to construct new strategies for clients.

The firm’s former head of international tax, Peter Collins, was banned by the Tax Practitioners Board over the scandal, while PwC was slapped with a good behaviour bond.

Mr Collins shared confidential government information with partners in the firm, with emails tabled to a Senate inquiry showing staff around the world were included in emails gloating about the briefings.

Greens Senator Barbara Pocock.

But the exposure of the firm’s failures triggered a second wave of outcry, with Treasury referring PwC and Mr Collins to the AFP for investigation over allegations they disclosed official secrets.

At least nine partners have exited PwC in connection to the tax scandal, with four currently subject to the AFP probe.

The TPB is also investigating four former PwC partners in relation to the tax scandal.

The AFP said its PwC investigations, dubbed Operation Alesia, was examining “an allegation involving the disclosure of confidential information by a former partner of Pricewaterhouse­Coopers”.

Operation Alesia is examining whether former PwC partners breached Section 70 or Section 90 of the Crimes Act, which relate to the disclosure of information and official secrets.

At the time, the AFP said it had designated the matter a “priority” and a “sensitive” investigation. The AFP will appear at Senate estimates on Tuesday next week.

On Monday, a spokeswoman said the AFP was aware of the media interest in the story and would provide an update at an appropriate time.

In addition to the recent raids, the AFP also visited Mr Collins’ Melbourne home in August.

Mr Collins has been contacted for comment.

Senator Pocock said the AFP raid was a long time coming and called on political parties to consider their relationships with the “big end of town”.

She said that, according to previous estimates hearings, the AFP had been working with overseas law enforcement agencies on the investigation. She said she understood that they had examined information that some international operatives, other than those already identified locally, may have been involved.

“I hope the raid will shed further light on this scandal which has been shrouded in secrecy,” she said.

PwC International has refused to release a report into the scandal, which identified six current and former partners at the firm who received confidential information linked to Mr Collins’s breaches.

PwC’s former head of international tax, Peter Collins. Picture: Luis Enrique Ascui

Senator Pocock said it was heartening to see the AFP make further progress on the long-running PwC saga.

“This is a very serious matter and the public deserves to know who was involved and to what extent,” she said.

Senator Pocock said the Senate had been asking the AFP “for some time” about its investigation into the scandal “only to be told that it’s a complex matter and will take some time to get to the bottom of it”.

A bombshell document dump on Friday revealed PwC International attempted to stymie information releases by the local arm of the firm in the face of the scandal, warning the audit and consulting giant’s partners risked expulsion from the global partnership.

PwC International also blasted the local arm of the firm for exposing clients and the global network “to potential risk and reputational harm”.

Letters tabled by the parliament reveal PwC’s global general counsel, Diana Weiss – one of several key figures at the firm who seized control of the Australian partnership in the wake of the tax scandal – warned the firm it had to run all communications through its global arms.

Mr Burrowes, who revealed the raids to partners on Monday, was tasked with bringing the local firm to heel in response to the scandal, being placed in the CEO role in July last year.

A parliamentary committee heard Mr Burrowes played a role in overseeing a list of partners who would be expelled from the partnership or retirement program in the wake of the tax scandal, alleging they were linked to the confidentiality breaches.

However, a recent document handed over by the firm reveals the details of his formerly secret consulting agreement with PwC International, alongside his role as CEO of the firm’s local arm.

Under this deal, Mr Burrowes was required to advise the PwC network leadership on the tax scandal and “assist with any requirement imposed on the network to demonstrate the effectiveness of remedial and other actions taken by PwC AU”.

Mr Burrowes, formerly a member of PwC International, has told parliament he could not disclose the findings of an Allens review into the international partners linked to the tax scandal.

His service agreement with PwC International also requires him to “keep confidential and not use, copy or disclose to any person any confidential information, except with PwC’s permission”.