Jozef Imrich, name worthy of Kafka, has his finger on the pulse of any irony of interest and shares his findings to keep you in-the-know with the savviest trend setters and infomaniacs.
''I want to stay as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can't see from the center.''
-Kurt Vonnegut
KPMG Australia has prepared a document summarising its latest investigation into wide-ranging allegations about the misuse of client data by a whistleblower.
The document describes dozens of the allegations and concludes they are unsubstantiated, while noting the two partners were punished for what it describes as minor infractions.
In one case, KPMG penalised a partner over an unattended laptop containing sensitive Dexus data, despite insisting the breach did not compromise a separate bid for the client’s audit.
The firm’s investigators also failed to interview several members of KPMG’s Dexus audit bid team or anyone from Dexus itself. The risk for the firm now is that, like the PwC tax leaks scandal, which involved the misuse of confidential government data to win work, KPMG’s response to the matter becomes the focus of parliament and regulators.
Aspects of the allegations are being examined by a parliamentary committee, corporate regulator the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, the Tax Practitioners Board, and professional body Chartered Accountants ANZ.
KPMG Australia chief executive Andrew Yates has resigned and will leave the firm immediately over the firm’s repeated failure to deal with wide-ranging whistleblower allegations of client data misuse.
The firm’s head of audit, Julian McPherson, will also step down from the leadership role and then resign from the firm, while partner Stan Stavros will become the interim CEO of KPMG Australia.
KPMG Australia CEO Andrew Yates has taken responsibility for the firm’s failures and resigned. Alex Ellinghausen
“I have been committed to a speak-up culture in our firm, it is clear that in this case we have let ourselves down and I take accountability,” Yates said.
McPherson said: “Matters have arisen for which I am responsible, and I take accountability.”
In a statement, the KPMG said that its treatment of the whistleblower and the three investigations “fell short of the firm’s expectations, those of the whistleblower and the broader community”.
“The initial internal investigation, that did not substantiate the allegations raised by the whistleblower, was in hindsight not conducted with the necessary rigour required,” it states.
“Understandably, this prompted further communications and allegations from the whistleblower, resulting in the appointment of an external legal firm, to review the internal investigation.
“The external legal review supported the internal investigation. This outcome further escalated the whistleblower’s concerns with the process. The whistleblower again raised the matter with certain independent members of the KPMG Australia Board and others.”
The third investigation, which is being overseen by the board and involves Allens, remains ongoing.
“Now, with new evidence and an expanded scope, Allens are continuing to challenge the conclusions reached in prior investigations.”
A scandal in the firm’s audit division, described as a “bastion of righteousness”, is bad enough. But the mishandling of the mess has cost its CEO dearly.
A former National Australia Bank and Commonwealth Bank employee and his mortgage broker wife have been arrested and charged with facilitating more than $40 million worth of fraud for a financial crime syndicate accused of fleecing Australia’s major banks of hundreds of millions of dollars.
Huy Tin Nguyen, 34, and his wife, Thu Huong Nguyen, 35, are accused of helping the Penthouse Syndicate – alleged to be one of the biggest fraud and money laundering syndicates in Australian history – build a luxury property empire across Sydney and defraud the country’s finance giants with the help of a network of corrupt bankers, mortgage brokers, solicitors, real estate agents and property developers.
