Other Synergy 360 managers also appear to have shared confidential Deloitte files. In October 2017,a senior Synergy 360 staff member emailed new Synergy client Unisys a highly detailed Deloitte tender pitch to the Defence department that Milo had prepared while a Deloitte partner in 2016.
The document outlined Deloitte’s proposal to create a digital system for “Defence’s Support for the Wounded,Injured and Ill Program”.
The email to the Unisys manager,who had hired Synergy 360 to help Unisys win Defence and other federal government projects,stated:“As requested. David will give you a call in 1 hour. Many thanks.”
The sharing of confidential information by consulting firms,including information gained via contracts with government departments,has become a major scandal afterPwC was caught leaking sensitive government tax policy information to its non-government clients.
Deloitte confirmed in a statement that Milo was a partner at the firm before leaving in May 2017 and indicated he may have obtained Deloitte information improperly.
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“It appears David Milo transferred information from his Deloitte email to his personal email. Deloitte had no knowledge of this activity nor of these emails,” the Deloitte statement said.
“We take this discovery extremely seriously as it represents a breach of our policies. We will conduct a thorough investigation and take appropriate action.”
Milo could not be reached for comment for this article.
A former Deloitte employee said that,before he left the firm,Milo arranged three meetings between Deloitte and Stuart Robert to help Deloitte win government contracts.
Deloitte did not answer questions about whether Milo – while working at Deloitte – arranged meetings with Robert.
Robert served as assistant minister for defence,minister for veterans’ affairs and minister for human services while Milo worked for Deloitte. He accompanied Milo and a second Deloitte partner on a trade mission to the United States in 2015.
When contacted for comment on his dealings with Deloitte and Milo,Robert said:“I reject all of your offensive allegations. All of them.”
On Monday,Deloitte Australian chief executive Adam Powick faced a Senate hearing where he defended his company’s handling of confidentiality breaches. At the same time his company told the hearing an employee was stood down last year for “inadvertently” sharing information from a government department.
Powick wrote to Deloitte staff on Tuesday saying it had been a challenging session.
“Regardless of media or broader commentary,we are rightfully proud of who we are as a firm,the work we deliver for our clients and what we stand for in terms of our culture and values,” he said.
The Synergy 360 scandal was first exposed by this masthead last November when leaked emails revealed how Robert had repeatedly helped Synergy 360 win clients and contracts.
In June,a whistleblower alleged in federal parliament that Synergy 360 planned to secretly funnel funds to Robert in return for his help in winning government contracts,prompting Robert to issue a fresh statement denying any wrongdoing.
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The whistleblower,Anthony Daly,is the ex-husband of Synergy 360 co-owner Kham Xaysavanh,and his statement was the first time one of the consulting firm’s insiders had gone on the record with a formal allegation about the links between the firm and Robert.
Daly gave the statement to the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit to assist its inquiries after a government review found in March that contracts linked to Synergy 360 and worth $374 million in taxpayer funds needed further investigation.
Greens justice spokesperson David Shoebridge said Robert’s conduct would be in the “top 10” matters his party would refer to the new National Anti-Corruption Commission.
With James Massola
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