A former senior partner at Ernst & Young has accused the firm of knowingly enabling organized crime-linked gambling businesses in a sweeping federal complaint filed in the Southern District of New York.
Joe Howie, a 35-year veteran of EY and former co-leader of its Global Assurance Risk Center of Excellence, alleges the firm “knowingly permitted the Firm to provide audit and other professional services to companies, particularly in the gaming, casino, and hospitality sectors, that were controlled by or closely connected to organized crime syndicates and other criminal groups and activity.”
EY whistleblower alleges firm allowed organized crime-linked gambling operations to thrive
In the 118-page filing seen by ReadWrite, Howie states that from 2017 to 2023, EY issued “unqualified audit opinions” for a group of publicly listed casino companies despite their filings containing “material misstatements.” He claims that these companies had connections to transnational organized crime networks engaged in illicit operations worth “billions of dollars.”
Howie warned that EY’s clients were “implicated and/or involved by proxy in bribing government officials, defrauding governments, and other serious illegal acts.” Yet EY “knowingly continued their audit and other engagements without taking effective action to end these relationships or reduce the risk of audit failures.”
The complaint identifies three US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) registrants, anonymized as Registrants 1–3, that were allegedly controlled by families with ties to Chinese organized crime groups. According to Howie, one of those families’ patriarchs was known as “the Godfather of Macau,” and his children were placed in leadership roles across affiliated casino entities.
Howie reported to EY leadership that these entities were engaged in “criminal activity… over $100 billion.” Among those implicated were high-profile junket operators Alvin Chau and Levo Chan, both convicted in Macau in recent years. Chau’s firm, Suncity, reportedly ran private VIP rooms in casinos operated by EY clients, which “provided the platform for some of Chau’s largest VIP operations.”
‘High-risk clients’
Despite receiving repeated internal warnings, Howie claims EY “refused to appropriately deal with the legal risk situations,” prioritizing revenue from high-risk clients. He says EY’s Global Risk Management Leader told him that “high-risk clients ‘pay better,’” and ending those relationships would require a “fundamental shift in EY’s culture.”
The complaint also reports that EY’s audits “violated professional standards” and “likely broke SEC laws,” including failing to detect or disclose client ties to organized crime and money laundering. Howie raised concerns that EY fees themselves may have been paid with the proceeds of illegal activities.
Howie claims that when he escalated concerns and pushed for stronger compliance, EY retaliated by removing him from leadership roles, denying transition opportunities, and ultimately forcing his early exit from the partnership. He filed the whistleblower complaint under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
The allegations depict a firm that publicly emphasized ethics and audit quality while internally ignoring red flags. “The reality at EY is in stark contrast to its messaging,” the complaint states. “EY leaders have abandoned these stated values and instead prioritized commercial pursuits.”
EY has not publicly responded to the complaint.
ReadWrite has reached out to EY for comment.
Featured image: Jean-Luc Valentin / Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Germany
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