Plus, serial embezzler sentenced to nearly three years in prison, and United Arab Emirates accountant jailed for money laundering.
KPMG distances itself from manager’s ‘racist’ Facebook rant [Trinidad Express]
Sachin Boodram, an audit manager at KPMG in Trinidad and Tobago, probably should’ve just stuck to posting selfies, inspirational quotes, and recipes on his Facebook page.
Last week, Boodram posted on Facebook: “Majority of crime in Trinidad is in predominantly black communities. Same communities that always look for handouts from the government. Majority of criminals in jail are blacks. Majority of people who prefer to be unemployed so they can sell drugs are black. Majority of business owners are robbed by blacks.”
In another post Boodram, referring to ongoing protests across the United States over the killing of George Floyd by a white policeman, questioned why persons were still protesting and showed his support for Donald Trump. This resulted in thousands of persons replying to the posts, expressing their disappointment and calling for a boycott of KPMG. Boodram later removed his posts and issued an apology.
In response, KPMG posted a statement via Facebook on Sunday which stated, “Like many of you, we are deeply disturbed by the comments posted by one of our staff members on social media. We want to assure you that the personal views and opinions of individual staff members are not, nor will they ever be that of our firm.
“We condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the comments and any act that promotes racism in Trinidad and Tobago and across the globe. We do not act impulsively on sensitive issues as all our decisions are based on careful consideration of the facts of the situation. Consequently any acts committed by our employees that go against our values or policies are thoroughly investigated…Two of the KPMG’s core values are ‘We respect the individual’ and ‘We act with integrity’.”
No word on whether Boodram is still employed by KPMG.
‘Cowardly’ accountant who bashed his wife to death while their kids slept and buried her in their back garden admits to $5.5million in theft and fraud [Daily Mail]
Here’s an update about Ahmed Seedat, the POS we wrote about last June after he was given a life sentence in Australia for strangling his wife to death and burying her in the back yard.
An accountant who bashed his wife to death with a wheel brace and dumped her outside while their young children slept has admitted to $5.5 million in theft and fraud.
Ahmed Dawood Seedat, 37, is serving a life sentence for killing 32-year-old Fahima Yusuf and burying her in a shallow grave in the garden of their home in the Perth suburb of Carlisle, Western Australia, in August 2018.
But a separate probe into his financial affairs revealed a staggering list of 20 people who fell victim to theft and fraud at the hands of the disgraced accountant, The West reported.
From 2013, he fleeced millions of dollars from the accounts of customers who hired him for his 13 years of accounting expertise.
He then used the stolen money – which were plundered in lump sums ranging from $5 to $1,621,948 per transaction – to fund his gambling addiction.
In one instance of fraud, Seedat transferred the deeds of a house into his name and left an elderly client to face eviction.
Seedat pleaded guilty to 98 offences last month and could receive another jail term upon sentencing.
Coronavirus: Ivybridge fraudulent accountant avoids jail due to pandemic [BBC News]
Kim Bruce, an accountant who stole from two charities that she had worked for, has avoided jail because of the COVID-19 crisis.
Bruce, 53, stole nearly £50,000 while working at Westcountry Rivers Trust and Exeter-based Libraries Unlimited.
After pleading guilty to five fraud charges, Judge David Evans ordered her to do 210 hours of unpaid community work and 20 days of rehabilitation activities.
Evans quoted a recent case in which the Lord Chief Justice had urged judges only to send people to prison during the COVID-19 crisis if it was absolutely unavoidable.
He told Bruce she had escaped an immediate jail sentence “by the skin of her teeth” and because of the crisis.
Other accountants behaving badly:
- NKC woman sentenced for repeatedly embezzling from her employers [Justice Department]
- Accountant in UAE jailed, fined in Dh5.6m money laundering case [Khaleej Times]
- Disqualified accountant effectively controlled three companies, court told [Irish Times]
