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Outlook: The mother and son whistleblowers who exposed a billion-euro fraud

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Sokhbir Kaur and Pav Gill

25/01/2024 GMT

The mother and son whistleblowers who exposed a billion-euro fraud

BBC World Service - Outlook, The mother and son whistleblowers who exposed a billion-euro fraud

Pav Gill helped expose a scandal at Wirecard, with a little nudge from his mum

Pav Gill helped to expose fraudulent activity at German payments company Wirecard, with a little nudge from his mum

When Pav Gill joined Wirecard in 2017, it was a huge career opportunity. Wirecard was one of Germany's biggest financial companies valued at 24 billion euros. But shortly after he started, Pav found evidence that certain individuals within the Singapore office were involved in fraudulent activities. When he tried to investigate further, he began receiving threats. In the end he confided in his mum, Sokhbir, and they set out to expose to the world what was going on.

As a result Wirecard ultimately had to call in the auditors and it was revealed that 1.9 billion euros was missing from its accounts. Wirecard's collapse had a huge impact on investors and pension-holders, as well as on its global staff. Pav has now set up a platform called Confide to make it easier for employees to call out company wrongdoings in a secure way. He hopes it will help companies to minimise the risks of whistleblowing.

Presenter: Emily Webb
Producer: Jo Impey

Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com or WhatsApp +44 330 678 2707

(Photo: Pav Gill and his mum Sokhbir)

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