Sometimes I wish that by some miracle, every member of our tribe decided to consume a particular piece of our content. Because sometimes what it contains is so shocking that were knowledge universal, outrage would force the implicated parties to atone.
This is sometimes. And the content I’m referring to is an interview between my colleague Michael Appel and his guests Adv Erin Richards and whistleblower Athol Williams. It’s now on the BizNews TV channel on Youtube. Click here to watch.
The interview exposes appalling behaviour by Baker and McKenzie, a brash, no-consequences global legal firm with a significant presence in South Africa with a website offering click throughs to 10 SA partners – Darryl Bernstein; Johan Botes; Janet MacKenzie; Lodewyk Meyer; Lerisha Naidu; Ashlin Perumall; Virusha Subban; Mike van Rensburg; Kieran White; and Marc Yudaken.
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We don’t know what kind of bonuses these worthies were paid over the past few years while its client Bain & Co ran amok in SA’s public sector. But listening to Athol, Erin and Appel, I’d argue whatever they did receive are proceeds of crime.
As such the money, and all the firm’s fees, should be surrendered to the authorities, along with a “client privileged” Baker McKenzie report on Bain’s involvement at SARS – about which the Zondo Commission was so scathing. Please have a watch. Am I the one missing something?
More for you to read today:
- Glencore Sets Aside $1.5 Billion to Cover Regulatory Probes. Commodities firm says it expects to resolve US, UK and Brazilian investigations into allegations of bribery this year.
- A Crucial Clue in the $4.5 Billion Bitcoin Heist: A $500 Walmart Gift Card. Increasingly sophisticated tools and some gift cards helped lead investigators to charge a young couple with conspiring to launder billions.
- Political Satirist P.J. O’Rourke Dies at Age 74. The author and journalist who included Johannesburg in his bestseller Holidays In Hell, died from lung cancer complications.
PS Register now for my two big webinars next week – on Wednesday at 6pm (not Tuesday as mentioned yesterday) it’s the post National Budget report from Cape Town. After a day in “lockup” I’ll have plenty to share. Register by clicking here.
Then on Thursday at noon I’ll be back at our Bryanston HQ for the monthly portfolio webinar update which will include the purchase of my third and final tranche of our $10 000 BizNews Shyft portfolio. Exclusively for Premium members. Click here to register.
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