The Companies Auditors and Liquidators Disciplinary Board has suspended the registration of Perth auditor Alan Robert Crawford as a registered company auditor for six months.
Mr Crawford audited the trust accounts of Knightsbridge Finance Pty Limited, formerly known as Clifton Partners Finance Pty Ltd, one of the companies embroiled in Western Australia’s finance brokers scandal.
After his six-month suspension ends, Mr Crawford must conduct trust account audits under the supervision (at his own expense) of an Australian Securities and Investments Commission-approved registered company auditor for at least 12 months and until he has completed six trust account audits that the supervisor has certified to ASIC were conducted to an acceptable standard.
ASIC argued that Mr Crawford had not met the requirements of the WA Finance Brokers Control Act and Australian Auditing Standards in his audit of Knightsbridge.
The board found Mr Crawford had failed to:
- Obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence in respect of his audit;
- Qualify the audit report on the basis of a scope limitation;
- Properly examine the statement prepared by Knightsbridge to establish that the figure held in the business cheque account trust on behalf of other persons was correct; and
- To qualify the audit report despite being aware of there being overdrawn balances in the trust accounts.
"Mr Crawford’s failures were serious and the imposition of a suspension and subsequent supervised audits shows the board’s desire to protect the public," ASIC deputy executive director of enforcement Mark Steward said.
"This is especially important where the audit concerns trust accounts."