The whistle-blower who helped take down German payment operator Wirecard is starting a platform to facilitate the detection and reporting of misconduct at companies.

Mr Pav Gill, the former Singapore-based legal head for Wirecard’s Asia-Pacific region, is setting up whistle-blowing platform Confide, the 40 year-old told Bloomberg News by phone.

Confide is catering to companies that want to boost their corporate governance, including those operating in the European Union, where new legislation is forcing companies to make reporting of misconduct easier.

The authorities across the world are increasingly recognising the role of whistle-blowers in exposing misconduct, after several high-profile cases over the past years.

Mr Gill was the key figure in revealing the fraud at Wirecard, one of Germany’s most valuable companies before it admitted three years ago that €1.9 billion (S$2.8 billion) in assets probably never existed. 

The EU’s top markets watchdog criticised German regulators’ handling of the matter at the time.

The bloc in 2019 agreed on new rules ensuring minimum protection for whistle-blowers. Organisations with more than 50 employees will have to set up internal channels to allow people to report irregularities related to areas including tax fraud, money laundering, environmental protection and public health. 

Mr Gill revealed his identity in 2021 and has since become a keynote speaker on the topics of whistle-blowing and corporate governance. He was awarded the ACFE Cliff Robertson Sentinel Award and the Blueprint for Free Speech Special Recognition Award, for integrity and bravery in the public interest.

“We want to use our expertise as senior legal, risk and compliance professionals to build a tech-driven, compliant and incredibly secure whistle-blowing platform that will allow companies to manage and mitigate risks to safeguard their key stakeholders,” Mr Gill said. BLOOMBERG