Whistleblowing CO wins £560,000 unfair dismissal claim

A compliance officer who was sacked after refusing to turn a blind eye to suspicious inter-company transactions, unauthorised directors and the hiring of an individual flagged by UK authorities as a Chinese spy, has had all his 'protected disclosures' upheld by the Employment Tribunal, reports Denis O'Connor.

Denis O'Connor is a fellow of both the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales and the Chartered Institute of Securities and Investment. He was a member of the British Bankers' Association Money Laundering Committee from 2003-10 and a member of the Joint Money Laundering Steering Group's board and editorial panel between 2010 and 2016. He has been a frequent speaker at industry conferences on financial crime issues, both in the United Kingdom and abroad.

A former compliance officer at Goldenway Global Investments (UK) Ltd (GWUK), the British unit of a Hong Kong-based foreign exchange broker Goldenway Global Investments (GWHK), has been awarded £560,000 by an Employment Tribunal. [1] Bharat Bhagani said he had been unfairly dismissed by GWUK following six whistleblowing disclosures to the Financial Conduct Authority. He reported to the regulator a case of money laundering, that unauthorised persons were acting as directors and that there were fraudulent intercompany loans. Also, he disclosed that he had been asked to assist in helping a fellow employee - who he later learned was an alleged Chinese espionage agent - obtain a United Kingdom work visa. The individual was later deported.