Today marks the start of the trial in Luxembourg of the two former PwC employees and a journalist, who were behind the uncovering of the so-called LuxLeaks, and have been accused of stealing confidential information about so-called ‘sweetheart’ deals agreed between Luxembourg and several multinationals
'Whistleblower' Antoine Deltour, a former auditor at PwC, together with Raphael Halet, another ex-PwC employee, and French journalist Edouard Perrin face charges over the leaking of thousands of documents.
The three men are accused of having published confidential information about alleged tax benefits offered to multinationals headquartered or having subsidiaries in Luxembourg which were negotiated by PwC.
The two PwC employees face charges which include stealing documents from the firm, fraudulent access to an IT system, revealing business secrets, breaches of professional confidentiality and selling documents for money.
The prosecutors claim these documents were then passed on to Perrin, who used them as a basis for reports that Luxembourg was agreeing tax deals with multinationals on favourable terms.
At the time, the Public Accounts Committee was highly critical of PwC’s role in this process, with the then chair Margaret Hodge MP claiming the firm had engaged in the ‘promotion of tax avoidance on an industrial scale’.
The trial is expected to last until May 4. The charges carry a penalty of up to five years in prison and fines of €1.25m (£970,000).
