From Leaks to Justice | Corporate Crime

From Leaks to Justice: Challenges and Opportunities for the Judiciary in the Age of Disclosure

The Corporate Crime Observatory (CCO) is partnering with Boston College Law School, Manchester Law School, and the University of Roehampton to organize an International Roundtable, which will serve as a comprehensive platform for exploring the impact of leaks such as Panama Papers, Paradise Papers, and LuxLeaks on the pursuit of justice. This event is also organized in cooperation with the Italian Judicial College (Scuola Superiore della Magistratura – Sede Decentrata di Napoli), the Moldovan National Institute of Justice (Institutul Naţional al Justiţiei), the Government Accountability Project, the Association of Corporate Investigators, and Whistleblower Partners LLP. The purpose of the event is to discuss this topic with top-level experts and relevant stakeholders to establish a fruitful knowledge-exchange process.

The International Roundtable will take place on Zoom on May 22, 2024, from 2:30 pm BST (9:30 am EDT, 3:30 pm CEST).
Join for free registering for this international roundtable here.

In particular, this scientific event, tailored for members of the judiciary and other legal professionals, will be divided into two main sessions.

The first session will introduce the phenomenon of leaks and aim to demonstrate how these disclosures are crucial in unveiling covert activities, not only related to the illicit financial flows associated with offenses like tax evasion, corruption, and money laundering, but also concerning ethically questionable practices such as tax avoidance and undisclosed conflicts of interest, particularly among public officials. A special focus will be placed on discussing how the leaks may shed light on the roles played by professionals such as lawyers, accountants, and financial advisors, in enabling or facilitating such malpractices. The discussion will illuminate the role of investigative journalism in bringing these issues to light as well as the processes involved in these disclosures, including how documents are explored, analyzed, stored, and made accessible. It will also highlight the relationship between legal practitioners and journalists.

The second session will seek to provide legal practitioners, especially prosecutors and judges, with an understanding of some of the difficulties in translating the leaked pieces of information into legal actions. Specifically, the discussion will focus on how prosecutors may utilize these revelations to further their investigative efforts, and how the disclosed information may be used as admissible evidence in legal proceedings. The discussion will also offer insights into the ways in which legal practitioners may engage with financial institutions or other relevant stakeholders post-leak. This session will also include discussions on the balance between transparency and confidentiality as well as the legal and ethical dilemmas that may arise when handling this sensitive information.

One of the primary objectives of this event is to foster a constructive dialogue and create synergy between investigative journalists and legal practitioners. Often, the work carried out by journalists, who expose wrongdoings thanks to the documents and pieces of information disclosed by leakers and whistleblowers, operates in a parallel yet disconnected dimension from the actions undertaken by the judiciary. This discussion aims to bridge this gap, emphasizing the importance of collaboration between these two spheres. By exploring the methodologies journalists use to bring sensitive information into the public domain, and then discussing how legal operators may translate this information into actionable legal proceedings, this initiative seeks to unlock a significant potential for enhancing the pursuit of justice. The synergistic approach not only aims to amplify the impact of disclosed information but also to ensure that such exposure leads to tangible legal outcomes, thereby upholding fundamental democratic values by promoting transparency and accountability in compliance with respect for human rights.

This CCO event is co-organized by Prof. Diane Ring, who serves as a Professor in Law at Boston College Law School, Dr. Costantino Grasso, who serves as an Associate Professor of Law at Manchester Law School, and Dr. Donato Vozza, who serves as a Senior Lecturer in Law at the University of Roehampton.

Before starting the discussion, we will enjoy brief welcome addresses from our esteemed institutional partners who have supported this event, and in particular from:

Barbara Modesta Grasso, Coordinator of the International and European Criminal Law Division at the Naples branch of the Italian School of the Judiciary.
Olga Marandici, Head of the International Relations Section, National Institute of Justice, Republic of Moldova.
Tom Divine, Project’s Legal Director at the Government Accountability Project.
Steve Young, Chief Executive Officer of the Association of Corporate Investigators.

The event will then start with the case study: "The Anatomy of the Leaks: A Case Study Approach for Legal Professionals," which will be presented by Mary Inman, Lawyer and Partner at Whistleblower Partners LLP.

Moderator: Diane Ring

Diane is a Professor of Law and the Dr. Thomas F. Carney Distinguished Scholar at Boston College Law. She researches and writes primarily in the field of international taxation, corporate taxation, and ethical issues in tax practice. Her recent work addresses issues including information exchange, tax leaks, international tax relations, sharing economy and human equity transactions, and ethics in international tax. Diane was a consultant for the United Nation’s 2014 project on tax base protection for developing countries, and the U.N.'s 2013 project on treaty administration for developing countries.

Scilla Alecci

Scilla is an investigative reporter and video journalist for the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). She is also the partnership coordinator for Asia and Europe. Originally from Italy, before relocating to the U.S., Scilla was based in Tokyo, where she worked for Bloomberg News and other news organizations. In 2016, she was a member of the Japanese reporting team that took part in the Pulitzer Prize-winning Panama Papers investigation.

Amedeo Barletta

Amedeo (Ph.D.) is a lawyer and researcher specializing in transnational criminal law. He has served as an Adjunct Lecturer at various Italian universities (e.g., LUISS, Vanvitelli, Federico II). Additionally, he has worked as a Legal Secretary at the Court of Justice of the European Union and as a Legal Advisor at the Italian Ministry of European Affairs. Currently, he serves as the Vice Chair of the European Criminal Bar Association.

William Bourdon

William is a prominent lawyer specializing in human rights. He has represented several top-level whistleblowers, including Edward Snowden, Hervé Falciani (Swissleaks), Antoine Deltour (Luxleaks), and Rui Pinto (Football Leaks). In 2001, he founded Sherpa, an association with the purpose of "defending victims of crimes committed by economic operators." He serves as the Chair of the Platform to Protect Whistleblowers in Africa (PPLAAF) and was the Secretary-General of the International Federation for Human Rights from 1995 to 2000. William is the author of several publications on international justice and human rights, including "Petit manuel de désobéissance citoyenne" (Short Manual on Citizens’ Disobedience) published in 2014.

Tom Divine

Since 1979 Tom Devine has been the Government Accountability Project’s legal director, where he has assisted over 8,000 whistleblowers. He also has been on the front lines for the passage and oversight of 37 whistleblower laws, including nearly all U.S. federal laws and internationally from Serbia to the UN and World Bank, most recently the EU Whistleblower Directive and Ukraine. He also serves as an adjunct professor at the DC Law School. He appears regularly as a media expert, has authored numerous books and articles on law journals, and co-founded Whistleblowing International Network.

Veronica Dragalin

Veronica is the Chief of the Anti-corruption Prosecution Office for the Republic of Moldova. Educated in the United States, she received her Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Virginia School of Law. Beginning on August 1, 2022, Veronica commenced her current mandate as the Chief of the Anti-corruption Prosecution Office. She is responsible for investigating and prosecuting high-level corruption cases and was awarded the 2023 Robert Tucker Prize for Prosecutorial Excellence. Prior to this, Veronica was a federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, California, where she specialized in corruption cases. Before becoming a prosecutor, she served as an associate at a U.S. law firm, working on international criminal investigations that spanned Europe, Asia, and South America.

Samantha Feinstein

Samantha is a Staff Attorney and Director of the International Program at the Government Accountability Project, a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting whistleblowers and promoting government and corporate accountability. With over 22 years of experience, she is a leading expert in whistleblower law, anticorruption, human rights, and good governance. Samantha is also is also Vice Chair of the Board of the UN Convention Against Corruption Coalition.

Mary Inman

Mary is a partner at Whistleblower Partners LLP. She specializes in representing whistleblowers worldwide under the US whistleblower reward program. Her successful efforts to export the US whistleblower programs to the UK were featured in the New York Times. Mary has represented renowned whistleblowers such as Tyler Shultz who exposed the infamous Silicon Valley blood-testing start-up Theranos. She is a regular commentator on whistleblower matters for the Financial Times, BBC, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Reuters.

Zachary Kopplin

Zack is an investigator at the Government Accountability Project. He has worked as a freelance investigative reporter and his investigations have included revealing police and judicial misconduct, uncovering the U.S. State Department covering up abuse of guest workers, and exposing corrupt politicians. He’s won several awards, including the Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Award. He has been profiled by national news outlets and appeared on news shows (e.g., MSNBC and HBO).

Ashu Sharma

Ash is Group Investigations Manager with Anglo American, a global mining company, leading a hub responsible for complex corporate investigations. Prior to this, he worked at HSBC in the internal fraud risk area, he also coordinated the global investigations triggered by the Panama Papers and 1MDB. Ash worked as a Senior Investigator with the UK Serious Fraud Office, as well as in other UK government departments where he investigated electoral and charity financial and regulatory misconduct concerns. He is also the Executive Head of Advisory for the Association of Corporate Investigators. Ash is a Certified Fraud Examiner, Certified Financial Crime Specialist, and Certified Cryptocurrency Investigator.

Amira Szönyi

Comparative lawyer by training, she is a former European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) investigator responsible for cases involving subsidy fraud, corruption, and irregularities concerning EU funds spent in EU Member States or third countries. Currently, she serves as the Head of Unit OLAF A3, overseeing administrative investigations concerning the European Structural and Investment Funds, Agricultural Funds, and Recovery and Resilience Facility Fund in seven Member States.