Whistleblower launches claims about EY and crime-linked gambling clients
A former Ernst & Young Partner of 35 years has reportedly been stripped of his title following the allegations.
Key points:
– Ernst & Young has been accused of aiding convicted gambling criminals in Macau
– The whistleblower, Joe Howie, was a Partner at the firm for over 35 years
– Howie has accused the firm of tampering with internal risk assessments relating to the Triad syndicate
A former Partner of Ernst & Young (EY), Joe Howie, has launched serious allegations against the law firm relating to organised crime in the gambling industry.
Specifically, Howie worked as a Partner at EY for a little over 35 years – and has now officially filed a range of accusations relating to audit failures, investor misinformation and money laundering with the Southern District of New York as part of a whistleblower lawsuit. According to Howie’s accounts, EY engaged in the issuing of clean audit reports for convicted Macanese gambling crime bosses, Alvin Chau and Levo Chan.
The pair – Chau and Chan – are convicted criminal junket operators that used to run VIP gambling rooms affiliated with Chinese transnational organised crime consortium – the Triad syndicate. Howie’s accusations allege that EY’s internal risk assessments dismissed advice to disassociate from the syndicate, with the internal assessments being left uncompleted or potentially having been subject to unlawful tampering.
Further, the accusations extend to the mishandling of AML-related risks, transactions and management integrity issues – with Howie stating that these areas were either minimised or dismissed completely.
Good to know: In 2023, Alvin Chau and Levo Chan were jailed for 18 and 14 years, respectively
Howie’s report highlights that, as a partner, he continuously attempted to flag these criminal accusations internally by involving the firm’s clientele.
Following continued protected whistleblowing activities, Howie was – according to the suit – forced into an early retirement by EY, with the firm stripping him of his Partner position. Indeed, these actions would place the law firm in further breach of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Howie is now set to be represented by New York-based firm Wigdor LLP.
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