Investigations about potential criminal activity at one of the country’s biggest consulting firms could take years to complete.
Police are investigating former PwC partner Peter Collins who allegedly shared confidential tax policy information with clients, which he had access to as part of a contract with the federal government.
Australian Federal Police commissioner Reece Kershaw told a Senate estimates hearing on Friday investigating such matters was challenging due to resourcing issues and their complexity.
“I’ve spoken personally to some of those detectives who have not let go (of an investigation into big companies) for eight or 10 years,” he said.
“We have to resource these matters appropriately, we have to go long range and sometimes we have to wear criticism for taking our time … we’re up against some really heavy firepower from those companies.
“It’s a very challenging environment for us to operate, however I have every confidence in the team that’s going to be undertaking this investigation; it’s very experienced and they’ll have the backing of all those different specialist areas of the AFP to make sure we get to the bottom of it.”
The AFP has ended all its contracts with PwC after it was warned about a “perceived” conflict of interest.
The Australian Tax Office sought advice from the police fraud and anti-corruption centre in 2018, which Mr Kershaw said was standard practice for complex tax matters.
However based on the documents provided by the ATO there was not enough information for police to make an assessment about the matter.
Deputy Commissioner Ian McCartney said then home affairs minister Peter Dutton was not briefed on the interaction with the ATO.
“Within the AFP we have a set guideline on ministerial briefings and this wouldn’t be a reason to brief the minister,” he said.
“It (wasn’t) a referral for investigation, ATO were seeking advice on this matter.”
Mr Kershaw said the AFP did not receive a criminal report for PwC to be investigated until 2023.
“An investigation is under way, it is complex (and) we expect we will have to triage thousands of documents,” he said.
“We will need to navigate various legal considerations in relation to these documents.
“This will take some time but we will carry out this investigation with rigour and efficiency.”