Daewoo chiefs charged with fraud
Thirty-four Daewoo executives and accountants have been accused of inflating the car-manufacturers assets by Won41Tn (£23bn). If guilty, the accused will have committed the biggest accounting fraud ever.
Thirty-four Daewoo executives and accountants have been accused of inflating the car-manufacturers assets by Won41Tn (£23bn). If guilty, the accused will have committed the biggest accounting fraud ever.
South Korean prosecutors alleged indicted executives and auditors manipulated financial statements to obtain Won 10Tn won in bank loans between 1997 and 1999, according to Reuters.
Prosecutors are also investigating a London-based company, British Financial Unit, that may have been used to subsidise business overseas.
Charges against the accused range from fraud to violation of external auditing regulations and the possible prison sentences, if convicted, range from three years to life, a spokesman for the Supreme Prosecutors Office in Seoul, told Reuters.
Daewoo collapsed in July 1999, just a month after reporting a healthy financial situation. At the time it was the second-biggest conglomerate in South Korea.
A due diligence conducted by creditors General Motors and Fiat, who eventually took control of the group, found Daewoo’s liabilities of Won 88.9Tn exceeded its assets by Won 29Tn.
The scandal has triggered calls for better accounting standards to be used in Korea, according to the Financial Times. Foreign investors are thought to be among those particularly concerned.
Representatives from Daewoo were unwilling to comment.
Links
The numbers you crunch tell a story. Your expertis...
23yEmbracing user-friendly AP systems can turn the tide, streamlining workflows, enhancing compliance, and opening doors to early payment discounts. Read...
View articleOrganisations can enhance their financial operations' efficiency, accuracy, and responsiveness by adopting platforms that offer them self-service cust...
View articleIn a world of instant results and automated workloads, the potential for AP to drive insights and transform results is enormous. But, if you’re still ...
View resourceDiscover how AP dashboards can transform your business by enhancing efficiency and accuracy in tracking key metrics, as revealed by the latest insight...
View articleGlobal spend on accountancy outsourcing up by 40% in the space of five years. News comes as accountancy outsourcing specialist AdvanceTrack reports en...
View articleFollowing a profitability review, Deloitte has decided to scale back its UK deals business due to lower returns. This strategic shift could lead to jo...
View articleUK-based Dow Schofield Watts (DSW), a mid-market professional services network, announced the creation of a new division called DSW Principal Partners...
View articleEY has been undergoing significant cost-cutting measures and streamlining its operations since the abandonment of Project Everest. The firm has made t...
View articleTransitioning from an accounting firm to a consultancy model is only one part of the puzzle. The next, equally vital piece is making the market aware ...
View articleThis framework, while providing a top-line view, underscores the importance of strategic vision, operational excellence, and the spirit of continuous ...
View articleLooking ahead, the Big 4 firms face a challenging year, with ongoing cost-of-living concerns, slow economic growth, rising geopolitical tensions, and ...
View articleLast month it was reported that Deloitte would be cutting approximately 1,200 jobs in the United States, making it the latest of the Big Four accounti...
View article