User:HelpRaph/Raphaël HALET

Personal life

Raphaël HALET was born in 1976 in Meuse (France) and is a French whistleblower. He is mainly known as the source of the Luxembourg Leaks documents. In 2006, he was hired at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in Luxembourg, from which he was dismissed in May 2016.

Luxembourg Leaks

Following the report "Tax havens: the little secrets of big business", a Cash Investigation report broadcast on 11 May 2012 on France 2 (62 minutes), he became aware of the tax evasion system in which he was participating.

On 23 January 2015, Raphaël Halet became the second person to be charged with similar charges to those of Antoine Deltour, this time relating to 16 company tax returns and information that would help to understand the tax evasion system in place in Luxembourg. Raphaël Halet, also a former employee of PricewaterhouseCoopers, remained anonymous to the press and the general public until the trial. His silence is explained by the confidentiality agreement he was forced to sign with PwC on 2 December 2014, which included, among other things, his dismissal from PwC.

After being denounced to the Luxembourg justice system, he was fined €1,000 on appeal in 2014 for disclosing tax documents of his employer's clients and exposing the tax evasion system in place.

The LuxLeaks scandal was revealed in November 2014 following investigations by the Center for Public Integrity's international consortium of investigative journalists. The revelations had an international impact, highlighting tax avoidance practices in Luxembourg. These revelations are helping to put in place measures to reduce tax dumping and aggressive tax avoidance techniques used by multinational companies, in particular through tax rulings.

The judicial aspect of the LuxLeaks concerns the prosecution of the people behind the leaked documents that made the revelations possible. Some companies were being prosecuted by a court for tax evasion, because of the supposed legality of the tax avoidance schemes. However, this legality is being challenged because of the distortions of competition caused by these aggressive tax optimisation schemes.

In the spring of 2016, the so-called LuxLeaks trial was held in Luxembourg and resulted in the conviction of two employees who had leaked documents.

In March 2017, the appeal trial confirmed the conviction.

His whistleblower status was then recognised after a long struggle by the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights in 2023 (ECHR).

On 14 February 2023, after the case was referred to the Grand Chamber, the ECHR finally recognised his whistleblower status by 12 votes to 5 and ordered Luxembourg to pay him damages. The ECHR judgment against Luxembourg points to these "political choices made in the field of company taxation" and "their impact in terms of equity and tax justice at European level".

Videography

A special report is dedicated to him: "In the skin of a whistleblower", Envoyé spécial report, broadcast on 13 October 2016 on France 2 (53 minutes). This is the first time that a whistleblower testifies about his story openly on a national television channel.

Awards

Raphaël HALET has received several awards for his action in favour of the general interest. 2016 The Global Tax 50 2017 Tax Transparency Award 2018 Daphne Caruana Galizia Award

[[Category:Whistleblowers]] [[Category:Whistleblowing]] [[Category:Whistleblower protection legislation]]