Reuters has reported that the Luxembourg public prosecutor’s office advised on 12 December 2014 that a Luxembourg judge has charged a former PricewaterhouseCoopers employee suspected of leaking documents about secret corporate tax deals with theft and giving away business secrets.
It said in a statement that, on 12 December 2014, an examining magistrate had also charged the unidentified person with breaching professional confidentiality and fraudulent access to a computerised data system.
He was also charged with money-laundering but the prosecutor’s office gave no detail of that allegation.
Reuters said the accused is suspected of stealing thousands of pages of documents on secret corporate tax dealings that were given to journalists, according to a source familiar with the case.
Reuters said PwC Luxembourg could not immediately be reached for comment. According to Reuters, Luxembourg prosecutors opened an investigation into what has become known as the “Luxleaks” affair after PwC filed a complaint in June 2012.
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) said in November this year that more than 300 companies had secured secret deals from Luxembourg to slash their tax bills. It quoted many leaked documents.
[LTN 242, 15/12/14]