Whistleblower Attorney Calls for Global Anti-Corruption Enforcement at OECD Conference

Stephen M. Kohn is one of the nation’s leading whistleblower attorneys. A founding director of the NWC, he is the author of eight books on whistleblower law, including The New Whistleblower’s Handbook: A Step-by-Step Guide to Doing What’s Right and Protecting Yourself (Lyons Press, 3rd Edition 2017).

He is a practicing whistleblower attorney and serves pro bono as the Chairman of the Board of the National Whistleblower Center. Stephen is a partner in the whistleblower law firm Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto.  His primary litigation focus includes representing international whistleblowers under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, tax fraud whistleblowers, qui tam reward laws, the False Claims Act, SEC whistleblowers and IRS whistleblowers. In 2012, the firm obtained the largest qui tam whistleblower reward given to a single individual in history ($104 million to UBS whistleblower Bradley Birkenfeld) and he represents Danske Bank Whistleblower Howard Wilkinson.

Eliza Lockhart is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Finance and Security at RUSI. Her research examines matters at the intersection of law, finance, and global security; with a particular focus on how evidence-based policy can promote democratic resilience and protect the rule of law against foreign interference. Eliza’s current projects include whistleblowing, state threats and economic security.

Eliza is a lawyer and legal policy expert. She previously worked in Australia for Linklaters and has experience with international financial crime investigations, whistleblower investigations and high-profile litigation. Eliza has advised on anti-bribery and corruption matters including election fraud, risk and compliance practices, disruptive technologies, and intellectual property law.

Prior to joining RUSI, Eliza was Associate to The Hon. Justice Kenny AM, a senior judge of the Federal Court of Australia and Chairperson of the Australian Electoral Commission. During the 2022 Australian federal election, Eliza gained expertise in electoral integrity matters.

Eliza holds a Master of Law and an MPhil in Public Policy, both with Distinction from the University of Cambridge.

María de los Ángeles Estrada is a Mexican lawyer specializing in transparency and anti-corruption. Currently, she is the Executive Director of the Transparency and Anti-corruption Initiative of the School of Government and Public Transformation of the Tec de Monterrey, one of the most important and renowned universities in Latin America.

Christopher Wylie, a British-Canadian whistleblower, is best known for exposing massive privacy violations by Facebook and Cambridge Analytica, and the misuse of millions of Facebook profiles in the groundbreaking Guardian exposé: “Revealed: 50 million Facebook profiles harvested for Cambridge Analytica in major data breach; Whistleblower describes how firm linked to former Trump adviser Steve Bannon compiled user data to target American voters.” He was the first successful Big Tech/social media whistleblower whose disclosures resulted in billions of dollars in fines and significant corporate reforms. Wylie was recognized in Time magazine’s list of the 100 Most Influential People and is also the author of *Mindf*ck: Cambridge Analytica and the Plot to Break America.*

Eric Hylton currently serves as the Director of Investigations for ZMF Law.
With over 30 years of government experience, Eric has held several prominent positions at the IRS, including serving as the Commissioner of the Small Business/Self-Employed Division, Deputy Chief of the Criminal Investigation Division, Executive Director of CI’s head of International Operations, as well as the Director of CI’s Narcotics and Counterterrorism Office.

As the Director of Investigations for ZMF, he is advising clients on criminal tax investigations, tax controversy matters, internal investigations, cryptocurrency, and whistleblower claims. He is an accomplished global forensic, tax, and financial crimes executive with an extensive track record investigating the most significant domestic and international financial crimes for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Additionally, he has demonstrated success in directing and leading the agency’s most sensitive criminal tax, money laundering, cryptocurrency, international corruption, civil fraud, and bank secrecy act violations.

Eric is also the former chair of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) – Task Force for Tax Crimes and Other Financial Crimes. As Chair, Eric led a multilateral commission of 40 international criminal tax organizations to develop methodologies and typologies on emerging global criminal tax and financial crimes threats.

Emin Rafiq oglu Huseynov is an Azerbaijani journalist and human rights activist. He was the chairman of the Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety. After he was forced into hiding to avoid arrest in Azerbaijan, Huseynov fled Azerbaijan and is in the process of attaining political asylum status in Switzerland.