Why were Saigon Dai Ninh and Quoc Cuong Gia Lai auditing companies suspended?

ANTD.VN - DFK Vietnam Auditing Company Limited, a company known to be involved in the "Saigon Dai Ninh" case, has had its auditing company status suspended.

The State Securities Commission (SSC) has just issued a decision to suspend the accreditation of DFK Vietnam Auditing Company Limited as an auditing firm authorized to audit public interest entities in the securities sector until December 31, 2024, due to the audit quality not meeting the required standards.

In addition, the regulatory authority also decided to suspend the accreditation of auditors Nguyen Anh Tuan, Le Huy Binh, and Nguyen Van Tan of the aforementioned auditing firm to audit entities with public interest in the securities sector until December 31, 2024.

DFK Vietnam's auditing firm has just been suspended by the State Securities Commission.

Simultaneously with this decision, the State Securities Commission (SSC) also sent a letter to the companies whose financial statements had been audited by DFK Vietnam Audit Company Limited. In the letter sent to Quoc Cuong Gia Lai Joint Stock Company (QCG) and Construction Company No. 5 (SC5), the SSC stated that according to the results of its 2024 audit service quality inspection at DFK Vietnam Audit Company Limited, the audit files showed that the auditors had not fully performed the audit procedures and had not collected sufficient appropriate audit evidence to provide an audit opinion as required by the auditing standards.

Therefore, the State Securities Commission will suspend the auditors who signed the audit reports on the 2023 financial statements of the aforementioned companies.

Reportedly, DFK Vietnam Auditing Company Limited has been auditing Quoc Cuong Gia Lai's financial statements since 2020. In early August, Quoc Cuong Gia Lai continued to sign a contract with DFK Vietnam to audit its 2024 financial statements.

Regarding the suspension of this auditing firm, Quoc Cuong Gia Lai stated that the company's Board of Directors will work with the auditing firm to ensure that the company's 2024 financial statements meet the standards and conditions for auditing for entities with public interest, and will publish them as soon as possible.

DFK Vietnam Auditing Company Limited is also known as the auditing firm that was "named" in the conclusions of the investigating agency related to the case that occurred at Saigon Dai Ninh Tourism Investment Joint Stock Company (Saigon Dai Ninh Company) and related entities.

According to the investigation findings, in March 2021, Mr. Pham Duc Thang, Deputy Director, and Ms. Tran Mai Hai Dang, Auditor of DFK Auditing Company, signed and issued an independent audit report on the capital contribution situation of shareholders as of December 31, 2020, determining the owner's capital contribution to Saigon Dai Ninh Company to be 2,000 billion VND.

However, the investigating agency determined that individuals at DFK Auditing Company relied solely on photocopies of documents, stamped receipts, and share ownership certificates; they did not verify or compare original documents, and lacked supporting evidence such as bank statements or cash book records.

The investigating agency assessed that signing and issuing the audit report without sufficient evidence, without consulting the Board of Directors, the General Management Board, and the legal representative, and without issuing an exception opinion, violated the provisions of auditing standards.

Therefore, the Investigation Police Department of the Ministry of Public Security recommends that the Ministry of Finance consider and strictly handle violations in the auditing process of DFK Audit Company and related individuals.

DFK Vietnam Audit is a member of the international auditing firm DFK International – presented as an international network of auditing and business consulting firms, comprising 219 member companies operating in 101 countries.

According to a report by DFK Vietnam, as of the end of 2023, the company had 19 practicing auditors approved by the Ministry of Finance to audit entities with public interest and 17 practicing auditors approved by the State Securities Commission to audit entities with public interest in the securities sector in 2023.

DFK Vietnam's revenue in 2023 reached over VND 43.7 billion, with after-tax profit of VND 1.4 billion.

Some of DFK Vietnam's clients include: Cong Thanh Cement Joint Stock Company, Chang Yih Ceramic Tile Joint Stock Company, Construction Investment Joint Stock Company No. 5, LDG Investment Joint Stock Company, Quoc Cuong - Gia Lai Joint Stock Company, Duong Hieu Trading & Mineral Exploitation Joint Stock Company, Vietnam Oil and Gas Power Consulting Joint Stock Company, etc.

Source: https://www.anninhthudo.vn/vi-sao-cong-ty-kiem-toan-sai-gon-dai-ninh-va-quoc-cuong-gia-lai-bi-dinh-chi-post596002.antd