EY, the multinational accounting and consulting firm also known as Ernst & Young, was ironically embroiled in a massive money laundering scandal back in 2012. The company was found guilty of wrongful termination of one of their whistleblowing employees, Amjad Rihan. Rihan brought the consulting giant to court for failing to report millions-worth of cash payouts and hiding the export of gold bars from the UK to Dubai to avoid taxation by their client Kaloti Jewellery International, an organized crime ring.
While auditing the Kaloti account, Rihan had urged his supervisors on the EY Executive Board to report the money laundering and disguised gold bars, but was instead fired from his post at the company. He took the case to a UK High Court which ultimately convicted EY and demanded they pay over $10M in restitution to Rihan for his unlawful termination.
Now in March 2021 after months of trying to appeal to the courts, EY has dropped their appeal with a statement made to the Financial Times claiming they are “disappointed by the trial judge’s decision and by the subsequent refusal of leave to appeal the underlying findings of fact, with which we firmly disagree….With such an impediment, we concluded that our appeal on the law, even if successful, no longer merited the time and resources involved. We therefore withdrew the appeal last year”.
In dropping the appeal, EY will have to continue payments to Rihan for damages and walks away from this case with a severely damaged reputation. If you suspect your firm is involved in covering up money laundering or other illegal activity, it’s vital to have an experienced defense attorney in your corner to mitigate the risk of your involvement. Give us a call at (305) 455-5206 to set up a confidential consultation with our team.
