Former SARS official lambastes KPMG for its dodgy SARS report

In a scathing legal attack‚ one of the so-called SARS rogue unit members‚ Johan van Loggerenberg‚ has accused international auditing firm KPMG of suppressing evidence of criminal offences.

Van Loggerenberg's accusations follow a meeting between his former colleagues‚ Adrian Lackay‚ Yolisa Pikie‚ Peter Richer and Ivan Pillay‚ and senior KPMG SA management on Tuesday.

That meeting followed an earlier meeting between former finance minister Pravin Gordhan‚ and his deputy‚ Mcebisi Jonas‚ and KPMG International management.

The meetings were over the damage‚ the findings‚ conclusions and recommendations of KPMG's report into the alleged SARS rogue unit had caused. KPMG withdrew the report’s findings‚ conclusions and recommendations earlier this month.

The findings and recommendations were used in part to criminally charge Gordhan‚ who headed SARS at the time of the unit's existence.

Van Loggerenberg‚ a former group executive for tax and customs at SARS‚ resigned in 2015 during the probe into the alleged covert unit.

In statement issued on Wednesday by Van Loggerenberg's lawyer‚ Brett Murison of Boqwana Burns‚ the auditing firm is blasted for its report into the alleged rogue unit which was said to have spied on the National Prosecuting Authority and ostensibly President Jacob Zuma.

In the statement Murison said while Van Loggerenberg had noted the meetings KPMG had had with Gordhan‚ Jonas‚ Pikie‚ Lackay and Richer‚ he had been unable to arrange a meeting with them despite requests for a "meaningful" engagement.

"Our client has found them to be unresponsive and their communiques (when they did bother to reply) to be dismissive‚ evasive‚ inadequate and displaying scant regard for the laws and rules of the audit profession.

"Our client believes the retraction by KPMG SA of the 'summary‚ conclusions‚ findings and recommendations' of their so-called 'SARS report'‚ falls way short of the legal‚ moral and ethical obligations that rest on KPMG SA to correct the wrongs caused by the report.

"It is noteworthy that this retraction came only after significant public outcry … leading to KPMG International conducting an internal review."

Murison added that while KPMG SA had always denied any flaw in their report‚ he [Van Loggerenberg] considers the retraction as an unequivocal public admission that the report "omits material facts‚ including evidence of which resulted in the suppression of evidence of criminal offences‚ significant losses to the taxpayer‚ the manipulation of state officials and the orchestrated disruption of state agencies.

"The report is tardy‚ nonsensical and replete with errors and material misrepresentations. It is incredibly selective in what it seeks to rely on and what it ignores‚ shoehorning these to fit into a particular false narrative of a supposed 'rogue unit'."

Murison said the report into the so-called rogue unit contained allegations that were illogical and unsubstantiated by facts.

"The report uncritically gives audience to and accepted unsubstantiated allegations made by third parties whilst failing to reflect on any reply or fair hearing of those pronounced upon."

Those linked to the SARS Rogue Unit report were never interviewed before the document was completed.

Murison said that the report demonstrated that KPMG SA did not uphold the fundamental obligatory principals of fairness and integrity during the entire process that led to the reports compilation and publication.

He said the report was materially questionable in law and accused its authors of breaching the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants and the Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors codes of conduct.

"When KPMG SA was made aware of the issues around their report they were obliged to disassociate themselves from the report. We call on KPMG SA to do so immediately and to comply with their statutory reporting requirements as required by audit-related and anti-money laundering and anti-corruption legislation."

He said KPMG SA had become privy to corruption and money laundering evidence when conducting a document review for the report‚ but it had not been reflected in the report.

Murison said that in the event that it was found that registered auditors and chartered accountants acted against IRBA and SAICA’s rules of conduct and ethics‚ they should be reported to these organisations.

He added that KPMG’s apologies to South Africa for what had happened were inadequate when measured against the harm caused to the economy‚ country and many innocent individuals‚ "most of whom have had no voice to defend themselves throughout this ordeal.

"This is despite our client demonstrating to KPMG SA for almost two years that their report was profoundly flawed."