An accountant and former non-executive director of ship builder Semple Cochrane has attacked ICAS for failing to launch an investigation into its members who knew the details of a controversial Semple Cochrane contract to refit a naval ship.
Malcolm Chapman, a member of ICAS, raised his concerns in a report submitted to the accounting body 16 months ago, two days after resigning his post on the board.
However, no formal investigation has been launched and ICAS has yet to decide if there is enough evidence for such an inquiry.
Earlier in the year, Semple’s board has had to write off £1.67m on a contract with Babcock Rosyth to refit the naval landing ship, the Sir Belvedere. This announcement prompted a plunge in the company’s share price.
Chapman said ICAS had an investigations committee which could be summoned on relatively short notice if it felt there was a case to be heard.
‘I am disgusted by the institute’s lack of action,’ Chapman told new Scottish daily paper Business am.
In August, Deloitte & Touche resigned as auditor of Semple Cochrane after the company asked Ernst & Young to undertake an independent review of its accounts.
This followed a review by Ernst & Young in April this year, which found the group’s interim results of 23 March 2000 were overstated by £10m as a result of accounting errors, the majority of which went back four years.
Errors occurred when the company breached normal accounting practice by treating short-term contracts on the same basis as long-term contracts.
Links
Deloittes resigns audit following accounting
‘Fundamental errors’ in ship fitter’s accounts