Accountant fined over finance company audit

A Wanganui accountant has been fined $25,000 and censured by his industry body for omissions made in auditing a New Plymouth-based former finance company.
The New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants' disciplinary tribunal heard the case against David Charles Fraser, the principal at Bell St business Silks Chartered Accountants, on November 23.
Mr Fraser pleaded guilty to four charges, all relating to two 2007 audits of Kiwi Finance.
It went into receivership in April 2008, the 18th finance company in two years to do so.
The charges were about failing to seek the necessary evidence for audit opinions or to document evidence important to them.
Mr Fraser has been banned from auditing finance companies for the next five years, fined $25,000 costs and censured.
The decision, posted on the institute's website, notes that Mr Fraser has an otherwise unblemished record and has taken steps to address the deficiencies the tribunal found.
Silks marketing manager, Manu Lewis-Maniapoto, said he was not appealing against the decisions, was still the company principal and would remain so.
He hadn't audited any finance companies for the last two years, so the ban would not actually affect him. The company would not be commenting further, she said.
The Silks website says Mr Fraser has 29 years' auditing experience. It lists organisations all over New Zealand that have been audited by him.
They include the Whanganui Community Foundation, Powerco Wanganui Trust, Wanganui Motors, Wanganui Newspapers, Waitotara Meat Company and the Nga Rauru Iwi Authority.