Despite internal safe guards and the best efforts of mining companies and their executives, criminal investigations can arise in relation to operations at home or abroad. How a company responds to a criminal investigation or to possible internal criminal misconduct, can have a serious legal and reputational impact, particularly since changes to Canadian law have made it easier for prosecutors to convict corporations and their officers of criminal wrongdoing. Today at Fasken Martineau’s PDAC 2016 seminar, Peter Mantas and Norm Keith of Fasken Martineau and Sandy Boucher of Grant Thornton discussed how proactive a mining company should be during the critical period after suspected criminal wrongdoing is discovered.
Tag Archives: investigation
White Collar Crime in South Africa
Although white collar crime is a worldwide phenomenon, in South Africa it tends to stand out as being particularly prevalent. White collar crime is a growing menace to businesses in and around South Africa. More and more senior managers are being involved in fraudulent schemes and activities. In addition, the sophistication and complexity in the way white collar crimes are carried out are on the rise.
One of the major catalysts of white collar crime in South Africa is that the perpetrators know that they are unlikely to be caught. The lack of investigation and prosecution is a concern to businesses in South Africa. How much protection will they receive if they do fall victim to white collar crime? Investigators of white collar crime attempt to put together dockets, with their attorneys’ assistance, which are then submitted to the National Prosecuting Authority. However, there is a lack of resources to facilitate prosecuting services in dealing with such complex crimes.