Following these statements, made at a press briefing in Pretoria earlier on Monday, SARS has released a statement, which included the legal routes they will be considering to pursue the audit firm.
According to SARS, the unethical, and unprofessional conduct by KPMG has left them with no option but to consider the following legal routes:
- Instituting legal proceedings against KPMG for reputational damage to SARS including but not limited to a civil claim.
- Report KPMG to the relevant statutory audit bodies both locally and internationally.
- Report KPMG to the Minister of Finance with the aim to blacklist KPMG for its unethical, immoral, unlawful and illegal behaviour.
- Report KPMG to the Minister of Finance to consider stopping all work currently performed by KPMG in other departments as well as any work in the pipeline until all the work KPMG conducted for the state have been investigated and reviewed for quality and proper auditing quality and expected standards.
- Immediately seize any work which KPMG is currently performing for SARS and assess the work KPMG has performed in the last 10 years with the aim to determine whether there was a value for money and whether SARS should demand its money back.
- Report KPMG to Parliament through SCOPA and SCOF with the aim to investigate the immoral conduct of KPMG and determine the appropriate action.