ACC warns against cooking the books by CA firms for cos

The chief of the government's graft prevention watchdog said on Thursday the alleged anomalies in the financial statements made by some chartered accountancy (CA ) firms for many companies should be investigated because such acts are considered as corruption.

Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) chairman Iqbal Mahmood said there are allegations that some CA firms prepare financial statements of various companies separately keeping in mind the banks and the tax authority.

"We hope those allegations are not true, but if it comes true, the national anti-graft agency will launch investigation into the matter," he also said while speaking at a ceremony to reward best Corruption Prevention Committees (CPCs) in recognition of their role in the anti-graft fight. It was organised by the ACC at the Jatiya Natyashala auditorium of the Shilpakala Academy in the city.

Finance Minister AMA Muhith attended the programme as the chief guest while ACC commissioner AFM Aminul Islam, director general (prevention) Md Jafar Iqbal and leaders of different units of CPCs spoke at the programme.

Expressing his concern, the ACC chairman said some dishonest companies, via CA firms, are making multiple financial statements containing separate information and submitting those to different organisations.

Drawing Finance Minister's attention to the fact, he said the financial statements submitted to the income-tax authority are not similar to those submitted to the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) for Initial Public Offering (IPO) while the statements submitted to the banks for borrowing money contain different information.

"How is it possible? Every financial statement of a business firm created annually should be same," Mr Mahmood said. If the allegations prove true, the commission will investigate it, though other state organs ignore it.

The business firms should have a moral standard and they should prepare accurate financial statements for submission to different organisation including the government ones.

The national anti-graft body rewarded 100 members of different CPCs from various upazilas of Dhaka and Mymensingh districts for their contribution to preventing corruption and raising anti-graft awareness in their respective areas. The award-giving ceremony was arranged as part of observing the 'Corruption Prevention Week-2018' that will end on April 2.

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