KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 26 — The Malaysian Institute of Accountants’ (MIA) disciplinary board must take the “most drastic action” against Deloitte if it breached financial rules in its now-disavowed audit of 1MDB, said Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng.
The federal lawmaker said this should not be limited to monetary penalties as is usually the case and urged the MIA to consider recommending the withdrawal of Deloitte’s licence to practice in the country.
“It has been reported widely in the global news that 1MDB is the world's biggest financial scam. Let the punishment be equal with the offence!” said Lim in a statement.
Lim then also drew attention to KPMG, another former 1MDB auditor, and said the firm should also be censured for its report of the state investment firm’s accounts that it has also since disavowed.
“Any punishment for Deloitte and KPMG by MIA if needed, it must fit the audit fees the two firms billed 1MDB,” he said.
Yesterday, the MIA announced that its investigation into Deloitte was complete and referred to the disciplinary panel for further action, following pressure from Lim for it to respond to a three-year-old complaint lodged by Damansara MP Tony Pua against the firm.
On November 21, Lim demanded action against Deloitte and its former country managing partner, Datuk Tan Theng Hooi, for allegedly misleading Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee over its audit of 1MDB.
In 2016, Deloitte stated that its audit reports for 1MDB’s financial statement for 2013-2014 should no longer be relied upon due to new information revealed by the US Department of Justice when it filed complaints in seeking to recover over RM6.8 billion in 1MDB-linked assets.
