Paul is the Director of Investigations, a role he previously performed for four years at Corruption Watch UK. Originally from Johannesburg, Paul has over a decade of experience in investigating cases of grand corruption and state capture, including as the lead researcher on the book and film of the Shadow World. Paul has written widely on corruption and state capture in South Africa and around the world, and on the negative impacts of militarism. Paul has published six books to date, including numerous best-sellers. Paul’s most recent book, Zondo at your Fingertips, was published in 2023. It became an instant best-seller and was long-listed for the Sunday Times literary prize in the non-fiction category. His writing, investigations and opinion pieces have featured widely in media outlets across the world, including the Guardian, Independent (UK), The Telegraph, Sunday Times (UK), Novara Media, Al Jazeera, Korrectiv, Die Weld, and across South Africa’s TV, radio and written media. Paul is a Network Fellow at the Safra Centre for Ethics at Harvard University, and was named anti-corruption and whistleblower of the year in South Africa in 2015, alongside his colleagues Hennie Van Vuuren and Andrew Feinstein, for their work exposing the notorious South African ‘Arms Deal.’
Since 2019, Paul has led SWI’s work on State Capture, conducting detailed forensic investigations into how the Gupta family ‘enterprise’ looted the South African state in conjunction with a range of multinational companies and enablers in the US, Germany, Switzerland, the UK and China. Paul gave extended testimony before the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into State Capture, including delivering a 7,000 page report setting out an exhaustive and comprehensive account of how the ‘Gupta enterprise’ benefited from State Capture, and the local and international money laundering networks they used. This groundbreaking report became the focus of an entire volume of the Zondo Commission’s final findings and catalysed a range of criminal and civil proceedings in South Africa and around the world. Paul’s work has assisted with the recovery of billions of rands in looted assets stolen through state capture, and Paul continues to work with regulatory and law enforcement agencies around the world to hold the guilty to account. Paul’s work on the international money networks used by the ‘Gupta enterprise’ has also been covered widely in the international media including by the Guardian, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and in Al Jazeera’s explosive Gold Mafia documentary.