auditor benched by pwc since centro audit

Gee.. i wonder why they were punished if they didn't do anything wrong..




FORMER Centro auditor Price-waterhouseCoopers partner Stephen Cougle said yesterday he had been benched by the accounting firm since he completed the shopping centre owner's error-riddled 2007 accounts.

Mr Cougle told the class action trial in Melbourne's Federal Court yesterday he had not

worked on an Australian audit in a senior capacity since Centro.

He has claimed throughout the trial that he was not responsible for a $3.1 billion error in Centro's 2007 accounts

The revelations came as Mr Cougle spent his third day under cross-examination by counsel for Centro.

"So, for the last five years you haven't been the engagement partner on an audit of a public listed company?" Peter Jopling, QC, asked Mr Cougle.

"Not recently. Was I on one after Centro? The answer is, effectively I was not," Mr Cougle replied.

Mr Cougle also revealed that apart from himself and PwC managers Brad Duggan and Amy Marshall, it was likely that all other staff from the accounting company working on the audit were either recent graduates or "trainees" who were still at university and working at the firm part-time.

The Centro empire gained notoriety for having one of the most complicated structures in corporate Australia.

Hundreds of shareholders have joined the two class actions alleging millions were lost when the company revealed its accounting and refinancing issues.

This week, PwC admitted it breached its duty to Centro when it failed to realise that $3.1bn in short-term debts had been classified as non-current in its 2007 audit.

Mr Cougle has maintained during the trial that the error was caused by junior staff who did not perform their duties adequately. He agreed that parts of Centro's audit were performed by the most junior PwC staffers, who at the time of the audit had very limited experience.

Mr Cougle was also questioned over a performance review of a junior staffer, Jamie Jaworski, who alleged he received limited guidance during the Centro audit. Mr Jaworski had completed university the year before beginning work on Centro's 2007 accounts.

Mr Cougle agreed that Mr Jaworski, who has since left the firm to work in Africa, would have been super-vising trainees.

The case continues.