PWC (PricewaterhouseCoopers ) Tunisian State and an ex minister of Finance

In a country where corruption is pervasive, some members of parliament, government, and politics exploit this corruption for personal gain. Examples include:

– Obtaining advantages from public banks, such as receiving suits and cash from tellers, and subsequently recording these transactions as profits or losses in the public bank’s financial statements.

– Obtaining loans for themselves and their families at low interest rates but failing to repay the full amount.

– Some of these individuals are linked to the Italian Mafia Camorra, engaging in illicit activities through the use of European garbage contracts.

– Some of them have been known to receive properties, apartments, and real estate assets, which they then leverage to exert undue influence on public bank employees and induce them to approve loans to construction contractors who are, in fact, in bankruptcy.

It seems reasonable to posit that either the majority of employees of public banks are accomplices or afraid to speak up to the police or the justice system, especially in a country where some politicians have been assassinated and terrorism is not eradicated.

Consider the following scenario: You are a whistleblower seeking to expose wrongdoing of a minister. However, the minister of Justice and head of the Police department is the friend of this minister, or perhaps even a relative or associate of the same village or tribe.

In a country where the president made the decision in 2021 to close the National Anti-Corruption Authority (INLUCC), it is reasonable to assume that he had evidence of a lack of objectivity on the part of this authority. Historical evidence indicates that in numerous countries, some police officers and judges have also been corrupted by politics, the mafia, and other factors. However, the rationale behind the decision to close the INLUCC remains unclear. One potential solution would be to appoint new members with higher ethical standards.

Corruption and bribery affair in Tunisian public banks like BH banks, allegation of corruption of prime minister Fakhfakh and the corruption of ex minister of ecology with the camorra mafia , (both regarding the business of recycling garbage) should create an alert in all International companies and these companies should avoid the risk to take a PEPS . 

 (Fakhfakh and Ben Hassen were cleared by Tunisian justice, but other politics are in jail now )

The individual who discloses information is likely to be fearful of the potential consequences, including loss of employment, housing, family, or even life. These fears are not unfounded, as the justice system in African countries may not be sufficiently robust to protect those who come forward with information.

Consequently, it is imperative to ascertain how one might persuade a teller, a pilot, an accountant, or any other individual to divulge information pertaining to illicit activities. For instance, how might one persuade a teller to reveal the identity of the individual who was responsible for transporting suitcases or palettes of money from Tunis to Jersey? Similarly, how might one persuade an accountant who was involved in money laundering via Gibraltar, Italy, Malta, Monaco (via Nice Airport) or Cyprus to come forward?

This is the challenge we face: people want to help, but we must assist them in raising their voices.

However in our case an international company like PWC decided to use a PEPS in this African country called Tunisia.

27/02/2020

Global context:Different NGO and Official report from different police  show implication of ex Tunisian ministers with different stakeholders ( foreign companies, Italian maffia , terrorism,…)

Elyes Fakhfakh :Fakhfakh served as the Minister of Tourism and, starting on 19 of December 2012, as the Minister of Finances as well, under Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali ( Islamist party of ennahda which is suspicious  to send terrorist in syria, some US citizen have been killed during this period ),He served as the Prime Minister of Tunisia from 27 February to 2 September 2020. and Put Nizar yaïche as minister of Finance during this key period .

In June 2020, according to Al Jazeera, “an independent member of Parliament published documents indicating that Fakhfakh owned shares in companies that won deals worth 44 million dinars”. Fakhfakh denied any wrongdoing. On 15 July 2020, he resigned . All the government  failed and Nizar was without job but has some connection in public administration as ex minister of finance.

In February 2020, monthly salary of Minister in Tunisia in euro (quiet the same in dollars) :

Prime Minister 8,000 dinars, (2,400 Euro)

Other Ministers 4,500 dinars, (1 300 Euro)

Secretary of State 3,400 dinars (1030 Euro)

Member of Parliament; MP 2,500 dinars, (750 Euro) Step 2

In 2021, Nizar Yaiche is a Partner at PWC

Harvard also benefits financially from PEP.

We inquire of American universities and schools what role they play and what procedures they follow with regard to the admission of African PEPS or their relatives as students.

A considerable number of children of dictatorships worldwide are enrolled in the most prestigious European and American educational institutions, despite lacking the financial resources and ethical considerations that should govern such decisions. These educational institutions are unwitting participants in and beneficiaries of corrupt practices, including money laundering, as a result of their involvement in the acceptance of students whose parents have engaged in illicit activities.

Such practices must cease.

August 2021, public interview (hereafter )  of the Partner consulting of PWC confirmed that PWC has obtained government contracts, the question is to know if the competition was pure and perfect against the other BIG4 and other service providers. The question is whether these American funds from USAID, in addition to government contracts, have not been won over by the advantage of having former ministers in its teams that could have brought into play the relationship ? https://lapresse.tn/2021/08/05/moez-kamoun-partner-consulting-leader-a-pwc-pricewaterhousecoopers-des-projets-denvergure-prevus-en-tunisie/

« Ses projets s’inscrivent principalement dans le secteur gouvernemental et des services publics, des télécoms et des services financiers. Ils ont une orientation et une sensibilité très particulière autour de la thématique de la transformation digitale à travers des projets emblématiques dans le domaine de l’E-Gouv (e-santé, e-éducation, e-finances, interopérabilité, etc.).

Durant les dernières années, son équipe a réussi à livrer plusieurs projets d’envergure auprès de ministères des finances en Afrique et en Tunisie, dont notamment le programme First (Fiscal reform for a strong Tunisia) financé par l’Usaid. La participation active du département consulting dans ce programme était principalement autour de la composante technologique et consistait à apporter une assistance technique auprès des parties prenantes (Direction générale des impôts, Direction générale de la comptabilité publique et du recouvrement, Centre informatique du ministère des Finances, etc.) »

18/03/2022

PWC Tunisia took the big contract of TFBANK removed from CAP bank which was in charge to find a solution.

28/03/2022 PWC is in charge of mission in the public company Steg (the public electricity company)

When we plan to invest EUR 200 million; We are necessarily expecting a return on investment! PwC is not a not-for-profit association.

25/05/2022

May,25  2022 PWC event  Tunisia Algeria Maroc

12/07/2022

Algerian authorities stop EY and Deloitte activities but authorize PWC and KPMG

What is the real reason?

19/12/2023

SEC Charges Honeywell with Bribery Schemes in Algeria and Brazil. In 2011, employees and agents of Honeywell’s Belgian subsidiary paid more than $75,000 in bribes to an Algerian government official to obtain and retain business with the Algerian state-owned entity Sonatrach.

https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2022-230

On the 12th of May, 2023, we formally requested from the Tunisian Bank of Commerce and Trade (BCT) a comprehensive account of all contractual agreements entered into with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Tunisia for all public companies, spanning the period between the 24th of February and the 12th of May. The BCT did not respond to our inquiry via email. In accordance with Tunisian legislation, this information is public.

On June 11, 2023, a second request was submitted to the PwC headquarters in the United States. The objective was to request the transparency report for Africa, which has not been published since 2017. Subsequent to our request, the transparency report was published in July 2023, solely for France.

This is the final transparency report from 2017. As can be seen, numerous Tunisian public companies and international organizations, such as USAID, were not their clients of PwC during this period.

The lack of transparency from the part of PwC and from Harvard University raises the question of whether USAID funds were indirectly used to finance PwC and, therefore, Nizar’s salary?

Did the fact that Nizar, this former finance minister, former head of public banks and public companies, who is now as an employee of PWC, use his address book and his connections create a distortion of competition?

Based on Tunisian law Translate from French :

Law No. 2018-46 of August 1, 2018, relating to the declaration of assets and interests, and the fight against illicit enrichment and conflicts of interest, in particular Articles 17-20 of said law which stipulate the following:

Art. 17 – The persons listed in numbers 1, 2, 4, 6 and 8 of Article 5 of this Law are prohibited from combining their functions with the following functions: any other public function, membership in public bodies or public enterprises or companies with public participation or any body whatever their name, in which the State or local authorities directly or indirectly hold a capital stake, a liberal profession or an industrial or commercial activity and any lucrative private activity, membership in the governing and deliberative bodies of private companies, membership of elected local authority councils, except for the persons listed in number 6 of Article 5 of this Law, a function with a third State, -a function with international governmental or non-governmental organizations.

Art. 18 – In the event that the persons listed in numbers 1, 2, 4, 6 and 8 of Article 5 of this Law hold shares or corporate units, or administer private companies in which they hold all or part of the capital, they must appoint a third party to manage them no later than two months from the date of their appointment or election, as the case may be, and until the cause that justified it ceases to exist. The transfer of management mentioned in the first paragraph of this Article is subject to the control of the Authority, which is informed of the measures taken in application of the provisions of this Article.

Art. 19 – The persons listed in numbers 1 and 2 of Article 5 of this Law must, after the termination of their duties for any reason, and for 5 years from that date, notify the Authority before contributing to investments in areas that were under their direct supervision or providing consultations for the benefit of companies operating in areas that were under their direct supervision. The persons listed in the first paragraph of this Article are prohibited from providing consultations that go against the interests of the State for 5 years from the date of termination of their duties.

Based on the precedent set by the E&Y case (SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 Release No. 92539/ August 2, 2021 ACCOUNTING AND AUDITING ENFORCEMENT Release No. 4238 / August 2, 2021 ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEEDING File No. 3-20446), it is worth questioning whether all competitors have been treated fairly during the contracts (audits, consulting, etc.) with the Tunisian state (public bank, public company, Tunisian state, etc.) and with the USAID fund?

Is Nizar interfered with the Request for Proposal (“RFP”) process initiated and overseen by Issuer’s Audit Committee to select an independent auditor? Did he provid Audit Firm with competitive bid and other confidential documents and information in an effort to enable Audit Firm to secure the audit engagement?