Gupta bean counter called to account
In a first for matters arising from the ‘Gupta leaks’, an independent committee has decided on an appropriate sanction for a KPMG auditor found guilty of misconduct
Former KPMG auditor Jacques Wessels has become the first individual to face any real sanction related to the Estina dairy farm saga, after the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) provisionally withdrew charges against Gupta family members and business associates in November last year. Wessels was responsible for auditing the financial statements of Gupta-owned Linkway Trading, which was allegedly part of an elaborate scheme in which taxpayers’ money from the Estina dairy project – meant to empower disadvantaged Free State farmers – was used to pay for the wedding of the Gupta brothers’ niece, Vega, at Sun City in 2013. After a year-long investigation into Wessels’ conduct, an independent disciplinary committee found him guilty on six charges of misconduct laid against him by the Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors (Irba), for having violated 31 auditing standards. Now the committee, which was also tasked with deciding on an appropriate sanction, has reached a decision: based ...
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