November 12, 2018. Washington, D.C. The leading whistleblower and qui tam attorney in the United States, Stephen M. Kohn is referred to as the “Dirty Harry” of Financial Fraud by the Danish press. Kohn represents Danske Bank whistleblower Howard Wilkinson, who uncovered what some are calling the largest money-laundering scandal in world banking history.
Kohn, a highly experienced and successful whistleblower attorney, is expected to testify next week, along with Wilkinson, before both the Danish and European Parliaments. He has not minced words, stating when Danske Bank agreed to partially waive the secrecy agreement that it was “The people of Denmark and all of the countries impacted by the Russian money laundering scheme had a right to know about Mr. Wilkinson’s concerns back in 2014.” Kohn has stated that Denmark and the EU need to enact broad reforms to fight financial fraud.
He has also told the European Commission its proposed Whistleblower Directive had serious deficiencies stating, “The EU needs to incorporate the highly effective qui tam and reward laws that have been remarkably effective in combating fraud into its Whistleblower Directive.”
Perhaps its Kohn’s passionate statements on protecting and incentivizing whistleblowers as the most effective way to fight corruption that have drawn the ‘Dirty Harry’ reference?
An Op-Ed in the Danish publication Borsen likens Kohn’s fight to end corruption to the Clint Eastwood character Dirty Harry:
“The other day, it was as though Dirty Harry appeared again. This time, it was not in San Francisco’s inflamed environments, but in Denmark, where there also seems to be crime to address, especially in business and central administration, for a righteous man like Dirty Harry. But it was not him. It was the American lawyer Stephen Kohn, who in Economic fraud shot sharply against Denmark for not doing enough to protect and help whistleblowers.”
The linked Op-Ed was translated by Google. The original Danish version can be read here: https://borsen.dk/nyheder/avisen/artikel/11/211507/artikel.html?hl=YToxOntpOjA7czoxMToiRGlydHkgSGFycnkiO30.