Nicola Sturgeon Arrested, Peter Murrell Charged

[Trogdor]

14 minutes ago, Leith Green said:

Presumably JC audited the SNP accounts up until the last financial year? And for all the years that the £600k is being questioned?

And if they signed them off (which they clearly did) then removing themselves for this year doesnt absolve them of any responsibility to ensure they are accurate.

BBC has this as the "top story" on their Scotland section and have not posted the (rather obvious) commentary that I have above.

BBC are really showing their colours this week.

Your are right but it also speaks volumes as to the relationship between the auditors (JC) and their client (SNP).

They haven't cited length of association as means of parting ways, that's normally the amicable way - IE we've been your auditor for too long. Instead they went for the review of their portfolio which is clear that they have ended the agreement.

I expect JC, as any external auditors would, are distancing themselves from the SNP when the police are investigating the finances of that body. It does shine a light on the external auditors too. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) will be watching the police investigation very closely and have probably been all over JC.

This is exactly what it seems - a bit of face saving PR for JC. If Murrell is charged there will be a big finger pointing at JC.

Restricted funds are always part of an external audit. Particularly around when they should be recognised as Income and utlimately expended. If these funds were to be ringfenced, JC should have been asking the very questions that have been asked subsequently. They could end up getting fined by the FRC.

Edited April 7, 2023 by Trogdor

[ICTChris]

They could find a dozen bodies in Peter Murrell's garden and people on here would be like "shocking bias from the SMSM in this coverage SMH"

[Jacksgranda]

37 minutes ago, ICTChris said:

They could find a dozen bodies in Peter Murrell's garden and people on here would be like "shocking bias from the SMSM in this coverage SMH"

Just because they're found in his garden doesn't mean he put them there...

Jeeezo.

[O_Kahn]

47 minutes ago, ICTChris said:

They could find a dozen bodies in Peter Murrell's garden and people on here would be like "shocking bias from the SMSM in this coverage SMH"

'why aren't they looking for bodies in Michelle Mone's garden? '

 

(TBF it would probably take an age to comb through her estate)

[CarrbridgeSaintee]

7 minutes ago, O_Kahn said:

'why aren't they looking for bodies in Michelle Mone's garden? '

 

(TBF it would probably take an age to comb through her estate)

You'd need one of these bad boys.

[ICTChris]

I would imagine Mone is more likely to eat her victims.

[Scary Bear]

1 hour ago, ICTChris said:

They could find a dozen bodies in Peter Murrell's garden and people on here would be like "shocking bias from the SMSM in this coverage SMH"

Name names please. The victims families need closure.

I haven’t seen that Father Jack character in ages. He was a c**t though, so no one would miss him.

[Wee-Bey]

Who becomes the defacto leader of the Murrell Crime Cartel when the bald fraud and wee Nic are jailed ?

[ICTChris]

1 minute ago, Marlo Stanfield said:

Who becomes the defacto leader of the Murrell Crime Cartel when the bald fraud and wee Nic are jailed ?

MIke Russell looking at himself in the mirror atm like

 

[Jim McLean's Ghost]

2 hours ago, Leith Green said:

Presumably JC audited the SNP accounts up until the last financial year? And for all the years that the £600k is being questioned?

And if they signed them off (which they clearly did) then removing themselves for this year doesnt absolve them of any responsibility to ensure they are accurate.

BBC has this as the "top story" on their Scotland section and have not posted the (rather obvious) commentary that I have above.

BBC are really showing their colours this week.

Surely it is a case of resigning before they were sacked.

Yousaf came out and said there was not the transparency he would like to see around SNP finances then surley the auditor who signed off the accounts previously is not going to be asked to do the same thing again.

[O_Kahn]

1 hour ago, ICTChris said:

I would imagine Mone is more likely to eat her victims.

I wouldn't have thought Hannibal Lecter would be very happy with you comparing him to Michelle Mone.

[strichener]

42 minutes ago, Jim McLean's Ghost said:

Surely it is a case of resigning before they were sacked.

Yousaf came out and said there was not the transparency he would like to see around SNP finances then surley the auditor who signed off the accounts previously is not going to be asked to do the same thing again.

Yes that'll be it.  

<Inset> nothingtoseehere.gif

[Michael W]

Auditors usually resign because the client isn't trustworthy or there is a substantial problem in getting the infomation they need. It'll be either:

1) the client's financial controls are absolutely hopeless; 

2) the client is obstructing their audit; 

3) they have little to no trust in what the client is telling them and are not satisfied they can prepare the accounts properly; 

4) some combination of the above. 

Basically, the client is going to cause them problems and they don't want to end up under investigation. Auditors don't voluntarily give up a recurring fee for no reason. 

Edited April 7, 2023 by Michael W

[DeeTillEhDeh]

4 hours ago, strichener said:

Your dancing to the wrong tune, that wasn't the website used to raise the funds.

I did wonder- I asked if anyone could  clarify what the donor form was like but nothing so far.

[welshbairn]

45 minutes ago, Michael W said:

Auditors usually resign because the client isn't trustworthy or there is a substantial problem in getting the infomation they need. It'll be either:

1) the client's financial controls are absolutely hopeless; 

2) the client is obstructing their audit; 

3) they have little to no trust in what the client is telling them and are not satisfied they can prepare the accounts properly; 

4) some combination of the above. 

Basically, the client is going to cause them problems and they don't want to end up under investigation. Auditors don't voluntarily give up a recurring fee for no reason. 

It's a bit odd them only ducking out now seeing as the police investigation started in 2021 and the alleged trouble with the indyref 2 donations was from 2019. 

[O'Kelly Isley III]

58 minutes ago, Michael W said:

Auditors usually resign because the client isn't trustworthy or there is a substantial problem in getting the infomation they need. It'll be either:

1) the client's financial controls are absolutely hopeless; 

2) the client is obstructing their audit; 

3) they have little to no trust in what the client is telling them and are not satisfied they can prepare the accounts properly; 

4) some combination of the above. 

Basically, the client is going to cause them problems and they don't want to end up under investigation. Auditors don't voluntarily give up a recurring fee for no reason. 

On the other hand there are auditors who are happy to trouser the fees without diligently discharging their duties.  There are various examples of this chronicled on a regular basis in Private Eye.

When I read that Johnston Carmichael had jumped ship my first reaction was they were hurriedly exiting in an effort at limiting their reputational damage.  They may find that may not be quite as easy as it appears, but in modern UK fashion lessons will be learned but no bonuses will be affected.

[Jim McLean's Ghost]

2 hours ago, strichener said:

Yes that'll be it.  

<Inset> nothingtoseehere.gif

have they renounced their work and referred themselves to the police or a professional standards body?

Because if they haven't then presumably they stand by all their previous work for the SNP as being completely above board.

[DeeTillEhDeh]

1 hour ago, welshbairn said:

It's a bit odd them only ducking out now seeing as the police investigation started in 2021 and the alleged trouble with the indyref 2 donations was from 2019. 

When they made the decision they must have had an idea that Police Scotland would be going after Murrell fairly soon - perhaps they were spooked by the stepping up of investigations in recent weeks?  This looks more like protecting their business reputation than anything else.

Edited April 7, 2023 by DeeTillEhDeh

[strichener]

12 minutes ago, Jim McLean&#x27;s Ghost said:

have they renounced their work and referred themselves to the police or a professional standards body?

Because if they haven't then presumably they stand by all their previous work for the SNP as being completely above board.

Wtf are you on about?  Auditors don't typically refer themselves to the police or the FRC.  

In the most part auditors will stand by their previous work on the basis that the audit on information received from the party being audited.

 

[DeeTillEhDeh]

5 minutes ago, strichener said:

Wtf are you on about?  Auditors don't typically refer themselves to the police or the FRC.  

In the most part auditors will stand by their previous work on the basis that the audit on information received from the party being audited.

 

The prevailing view among accountants is that they have a right to report fraud where the public interest outweighs confidentiality to clients but not necessarily a duty to detect or warn about it.