One of Australia’s largest accounting groups is investigating 19 auditors for potential breaches related to the KPMG audit scandal.
Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ), which represents over 140,000 professionals globally, has revealed to Capital Brief that it could place harsh penalties on these members if there are adverse findings against them.
The members include former KPMG Australia chief operating officer Eileen Hoggett and former real estate audit and assurance partner Paul Rogers. Hoggett, Rogers and former audit partner Kim Lawry were found to have viewed confidential Lendlease information as KPMG was bidding for contracts for Westpac and Dexus. It is also alleged that KPMG misused confidential information from Telstra and Optus.
Apart from Hoggett and Rogers, others in the 19-strong cohort under scrutiny have not been named, raising questions about how many auditors have been caught up in the scandal.