In lodging the report with the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA), the Petaling Jaya Utara MP said the key discrepancies were not disclosed in the state investment vehicle's financial statement ending March 31, 2010.
The alleged discrepancies include details of 1MDB's joint venture (JV) with PetroSaudi International Limited (PSI), including the US$700 million (RM2.58 billion) that was allegedly channelled into Good Star Limited, a firm allegedly owned by businessman Low Taek Jho, or popularly known as Jho Low.
Another alleged discrepancy raised by Pua was the 1.5 billion PSI shares that "disappeared" within months after the JV was signed, when it was converted into an Islamic loan.
The conversion, he said, took place after the financial statement was issued although 1MDB's financial statement recorded it as taking place on March 31, 2010.
Documents leaked by whistleblower site Sarawak Report dated July 23 and September 8, 2010, had specifically referred to the "Murabaha financing agreement dated June 14, 2010, between 1MDB and 1MDB PetroSaudi Limited, a JV company formed between 1MDB and PSI".
"These two discrepancies were not disclosed in the financial statement.
"Thus, I suspected there are irregularities in the transactions," he said after handing over his complaint memorandum to both MIA registrar Sudirman Masduki and chief executive officer Ho Foong Moi.
KPMG was 1MDB's auditor between 2010 and 2012, and had signed off 1MDB's financial statement ending March 31, 2010, on October 4 the same year.
Before that, Ernst & Young was 1MDB's auditor but the firm quit in 2010 without signing off the accounts.
The bulk of Pua's complaint was against KPMG, which he alleged had intentionally or negligently failed to conduct sufficient due diligence and audit of 1MDB when signing off the accounts within a month of taking over.
He also said the audit firm failed to make material disclosures of transactions that took place during the joint venture in the 2010 financial statements, rendering the report misleading and unrepresentative of the true state of accounts in the company.
He added both KPMG and Ernst & Young failed to report the "highly dubious and potentially fraudulent transactions" in 1MDB to alert the relevant authorities.
This he said, had resulted in 1MDB being able to maintain a façade of financial strength and viability, despite accumulating RM41.9 billion debts as of March 31 last year.
Pua said MIA could take action against any registered firm that failed to perform their duties.
"Worst case is they can be struck off," he said.
Yesterday, KPMG International denied any relationship or connection to 1MDB following recent allegations by Sarawak Report that the audit firm had "cooked the books" when auditing the debt-laden state investment firm.
Sarawak Report had reported that Tom Wethered, the general counsel for KPMG International Cooperative global chairman John Veihmeyer, said that the corporate headquarters had no involvement in the matter, because the KPMG network represented nothing more than a "'Swiss Cooperative' of happy Helvetic brand sharers".
He had said that no one at the headquarters was responsible for what their fellow franchise holders were up to, and they were just there to help and advise when required.
Criticism has been mounting over the wholly-owned Finance Ministry investment vehicle, established in 2009, which has chalked up debts of up to RM42 billion.
Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah recently had disclosed that Putrajaya had approved a RM950 million standby credit facility for 1MDB, of which RM600 million had been used.
Scrutiny has grown more intense following Sarawak Report's exposés that have piled pressure on prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and prompted opposition politicians, former Umno leaders and anti-graft bodies to demand a thorough investigation into the fund.
Najib has ordered the auditor-general to look at 1MDB’s books, saying that the report would be passed for transparency inspection to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which is bipartisan and reflects Parliament’s composition.
Prior to Najib’s order, PAC said it wanted the national auditor to carry out an audit of 1MDB's deals before it called up the company.
- TMI
"DAP lodges report against audit firms over ‘key discrepancies’ in 1MDB’s 2010 books"
ReplyDeleteJust to share this...
Ahmad Nasri Abdul Wahab
Head of Islamic Business
Advisory, KPMG Malaysia
http://www.mifc.com/?ch=ch_directory_pro&pg=pg_directory_pro_acc&ac=92
Standing Committee on Islamic Financial Reporting
Encik Ahmad Nasri Abdul Wahab - Partner, KPMG
http://masb.org.my/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1868
"...Quoting DAP politician Tony Pua, it called for an immediate
investigation in the accounts and named Ahmad Nasri Abdul Wahab, the
KPMG partner who signed off on the accounts, and former 1MDB chief
executive Shahrol Halmi, “who swore that the details were correct”, as
among those who should be questioned..."
http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2015/03/21/1mdb-auditor-under-fire-for-sharp-practices/
What a coincidence - Same equivalent statements...?
"1MDB chief executive Shahrol Halmi, “who swore that the details were correct”,
"There are no accounting issues, no trading issues, no reserve
issues, no previously unknown problem issues. I think I can honestly say
that the company is probably in the strongest and best shape that it
has probably ever been in."
Kenneth Lay answering an analyst's question on August 14, 2001.[82]
Could it end up like this...
Enron – “Bankruptcy”
Enron’s stock price (former NYSE ticker symbol: ENE) from August 23, 2000 ($90) to
January 11, 2002 ($0.12).
As a result of the decrease of the stock price, shareholders lost nearly $11 billion.[3]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enron_scandal
You be the judge.
"DAP lodges report against audit firms over ‘key discrepancies’ in 1MDB’s 2010 books"
ReplyDeleteAlso to share this...
The dozy watchdogs - http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21635978-some-13-years-after-enron-auditors-still-cant-stop-managers-cooking-books-time-some
You be the judge.