Ex-PwC Japan accountants guilty of lying
Suspended jail terms handed down
A Tokyo court has found three former accountants who worked with suspended
Japanese firm ChuoAoyama guilty of lying in a conspiracy with executives at its
former audit client, cosmetics maker Kanebo.
Kuniaki Sato, 64, was sentenced 18 months in prison while Kazutoshi Kanda,
56, and Seiichiro Tokumi, 59, received one year in jail – all of these were
suspended for three years.
ChuoAoyama, the former PwC representative firm in Japan has had its auditing
license suspended for July and August as punishment for its involvement in the
accounting scandal at Kanebo.
Presiding judge Harumitsu Mori said: ‘The crime significantly eroded the
public trust in the auditing system and accountants. It is shameful that they
have failed to realize the high professional morality as certified accountants
and lost the true aim of auditing, which is to protect the profits of
investors.’
PwC has set up a new firm in Japan after the suspension of ChuoAoyama.