I exposed Wirecard’s fraud – now I’ll help others do the same: Whistleblower Pav Gill on new start-up

“Whistleblowing was not part of my DNA,” says Pav Gill.

As a lawyer by training, he admits that his stance on the disclosure of internal company information “was supposed to be the opposite extreme.”

But Gill blew the whistle on his former employer, German payments provider Wirecard, in 2018, exposing financial irregularities that indicated a falsely increased profit.

Two years later, Wirecard collapsed and filed for insolvency after the complaint by Gill and others led the company to admit a €1.9 billion gap in its accounts.

Its former CEO, Markus Braun, has since been detained, while former COO Jan Marsalek remains at large, allegedly in Russia.

Gill tells This is Money that his life became difficult after he started researching. Shortly afterward he was expelled from the company.

His actions had serious repercussions, including, he said, anonymous phone calls that threatened his life.

Gill never wanted to report the situation, he says, but was “forced into a whistleblowing situation.” It was his mother who contacted the Financial Times on his behalf.

Now, buoyed by his experience exposing wrongdoing at Wirecard, Gill has launched Confide, an anonymous whistleblowing platform for staff.

The encrypted platform offers a way for employees to anonymously convey their concerns to a company’s management, without fear of repercussions.

It is designed to help companies manage serious concerns internally and prevent whistleblowing scandals from occurring.

“You need an encrypted, anonymous tool, where (bosses) can’t go to the IT guys and track who sent what,” he explains.

According to Gill, he is looking to find a solution to the problems he saw at Wirecard.

“If you find yourself in a situation where you need to talk or raise an issue, the question often becomes: who should you trust?” he explains.

You may be trusting the wrong person too much. You may not even be allowed a legal privilege. (Staff who want to raise issues) usually do so in isolation and that can be a challenge.’

Although he was told his report would be anonymous, Gill says the company’s CEO was informed that he had reported.

Wirecard launched its own internal reporting tool after Gill began his investigations.

With Confide, it seeks to create a platform that is mutually beneficial for employees and employers, offering potential whistleblowers protection from retaliatory activity and allowing companies to avoid a press nightmare.

‘The key difference here is that it is immutable, so the audit trail is there. The company knows this and, hopefully, that will force them to be more sensible when it comes to managing reports,’ he says.

“Our unique platform transcends the limitations of existing “glorified inbox” solutions, and embodies our commitment to promoting a corporate world where rapid, internal problem resolution is the norm, benefiting employees, organizations and policymakers. equally.”

The startup, which Gill co-founded with longtime colleague Ryan Dougherty, also offers a system to digitize the investigation process and allow investigators to collect and manage their case information.

Not only does this pave the way for companies to address issues more effectively, but Gill hopes it will be part of a new era of transparency.

Staff want to work for honest companies.

Too often, concerns are stifled by middle management or ignored by higher-ups, to the point that employees may be too worried to come forward.

“There are always questions” for potential whistleblowers, Gill says. “For me, whistleblowing is a huge emotional problem, speaking out is an emotional problem.”

Typically, he notes, it takes major public relations scandals or fines from regulators for companies to make changes, and media storms have plagued recent scandals such as those surrounding FTX or Boeing 737 MAX aircraft.

“I think if we can change that mindset, companies will be much better off… and employees will feel free to speak up knowing that they won’t be retaliated against,” Gill says.

The younger generation, he adds, doesn’t like being told to keep their heads down and ignore problems at work. “They’ll just say they’re sorry, can you repeat that, and they’ll take out their phone and record you.”

‘I think companies need to evolve with the times. I also think it’s a matter of common sense.

However, the type of problems reported in Confide do not have to be bad practices or mismanagement.

The platform could also be used to report problems as trivial as the choice of coffee in the staff room or unfavorable work hours.

While there will always be bad apples and whistleblowers who expose them, some companies are starting to see that becoming more transparent can be a benefit, according to Gill.

“These tools will go a long way in helping companies know what good employers they are and what kind of culture they have,” he adds.

The workforce is also changing its ideals. Job seekers are increasingly scrutinizing potential employers for ideals that match their own, whether in their environmental focus, charitable work or transparency.

According to LinkedIn, 59 percent of Europeans would not work for a company that does not align with their values, and 68 percent in the United Kingdom reported that they would prioritize a position at a company that aligned with their values.

“Three years ago, no one would have imagined in their wildest dreams that candidates would ask business owners how many trees they are planting and how green they are,” he says.

The same goes for governance and conduct. ‘We saw it with the “Me Too” movement, BLM and Occupy Wall Street. I think the world we live in now is very focused on talking,’ says Gill.

“Any company that doesn’t recognize this will simply suffer and be heard in the wrong way.”