Paula Leite

Director

  • Americas
  • Ethics, Compliance and Governance
  • Investigations, Litigation and Forensics
  • ESG and Sustainable Business

Paula is a Director in the Control Risks’ Business Intelligence practice, based in our São Paulo office. She works on projects such as due diligence investigations, background checks, internal investigations, and litigation and dispute support for clients that are looking to invest in or are already operating in Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.

Examples of Paula’s recent projects include:

  • Leading a multijurisdictional due diligence for an institutional investor seeking to acquire a utility company with dozens of assets in Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Our local knowledge of the sector in each country and discreet source inquiries regarding the company’s operations in different regions helped our client understand not only the specific risks in each jurisdiction but also the target company’s global risk profile.
  • Managing a reputational and ESG-focused due diligence investigation for a Singaporean sustainable investment fund that was interested in investing in a reforestation project in central Brazil. Our on-the-ground visit to the region and interviews allowed the client to better understand the local reputation of the project and its relationship with workers and the surrounding communities.
  • Investigating internal fraud allegations for multinational companies in Brazil, Chile and Argentina. The investigation included public records research, human intelligence gathering, asset tracing and document review, and uncovering evidence of conflicts of interest, the diversion of funds and kickbacks.
  • Prior to joining Control Risks, Paula worked as a journalist for more than 15 years, mostly as a reporter and editor at Folha de S.Paulo, one of Brazil’s leading newspapers. Paula was awarded the Vladimir Herzog Award for creating and coordinating the Altered State multimedia series, a comprehensive journalistic investigation into drug policies around the globe. She has also been directly involved in the coverage of significant news events, such as the 2016 US presidential elections and the COVID-19 pandemic. 

    Paula holds a master’s degree in business from the Insper Institute of Education and Research and an undergraduate degree in journalism from the University of São Paulo. She is a native Portuguese speaker and is fluent in English, as well as having a working knowledge of Spanish, French and German.

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