Former KPMG Gupta auditor struck from register

The former KPMG partner who audited the Guptas accounts has been struck from the register of the Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors (Irba).

Jacques Wessels faced an Irba disciplinary committee in December when he admitted to being negligent during the audit of Linkway Trading, passing off costs for the family’s lavish Sun City wedding event as a business expense.

Wessels admitted to being negligent during the audit of the Gupta company but denied he had been dishonest or had helped the family evade taxes.

The committee found him guilty last year of all six charges Irba leveled against him. Two of them were for dishonesty, while the other four related to negligence. On the negligence counts Wessels was found guilty of contravening four fundamental auditing principles and 31 auditing standards.

KPMG found itself embroiled in allegations of state capture after a tranche of Gupta e-mails were leaked to the media. Several senior executives resigned in the wake of the scandal.

Irba CEO Bernard Agulhas said on Thursday that the disciplinary committee had considered sanctions and ordered that Wessels’s affiliation as a registered auditor be cancelled.

Wessels was also ordered to pay a contribution towards the Irba’s costs.

“Further, the committee ruled that the auditor’s name, the name of his firm, the charges against him, the findings in respect of the charges and sanction imposed on him, be published by Irba,” Agulhas said.

Irba will also notify the SA Institute of Chartered Accountants of the findings and sanctions. Agulhas said this was the first matter arising from the Gupta leaks to reach a disciplinary conclusion and sanction.

quintalg@businesslive.co.za