Deloitte Eyed in Hastie’s $20M Accounting Irregularities

Deloitte’s Australian member firm could be facing scrutiny after one of its auditing clients, Hastie Group, admitted to $20 million (Australian) in accounting irregularities.

The industrial air conditioning and refrigeration maker went into administration after admitting it had piled up $500 million (Australian) in debt. Among the company’s problems are the $20 million (Australian) in accounting "irregularities" that it said Friday one of its employees had deliberately caused in its accounts for the 2008/2009 fiscal year, according to the Sydney Morning-Herald. The unidentified employee has been suspended. The company’s auditing firm Deloitte has so far not said when the irregularities were discovered. Deloitte did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Deloitte had discovered other accounting irregularities of $3 million (Australian) in the company’s accounts for the last six months of last year, and those irregularities were included in Hastie’s loss last year. Now the company says the irregularities may go back at least as far as 2009. Not only the suspended employee may have been involved, but “potentially, some current and former senior management may have participated in the irregularities and failed to apply the required standards of financial supervision and review.”

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission is looking into the matter.