NEW DELHI: The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), which is probing the financial fraud in IL&FS and its subsidiaries, is likely to submit its report on the role of auditors by the end of this month.
“SFIO is separately looking at the role of the auditors. The officials have been questioning all three auditors, and after that it will submit a report to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs by the end of this month,” said a senior official.
On Wednesday evening, SFIO questioned an audit partner of BSR Co LLP in Delhi, widening the ambit of its probe into the role of auditors in the IL&FS case. BSR is the Indian audit arm of KPMG, one of the big four consultants, and one of the three auditors of IL&FS, including EY affiliate SRBC and Deloitte Haskins. Last week, the agency had probed top officials of Deloitte Haskins.
The SFIO, which was asked to probe financial irregularities in fraud-hit IL&FS, had questioned the role of auditors in its investigation, the report of which was submitted to the ministry on December 3 last year, accusing them of “window- dressed financials”. The claim was buttressed by the ICAI, which, in its interim report, said the auditors acted in a “negligent and fraudulent manner” and prepared incorrect financial statements of IL&FS.
AUDITORS
Deloitte, EY affiliate SRBC, and KPMG affiliate BSR were the three auditors of the IL&FS firms