Transparency International calls for audit of Tanjung Offshore – Bernama
Transparency International-Malaysia(TI-M) has urged Tanjung Offshore Bhd, in the news recently over allegations by minority shareholders, to conduct a forensic audit to allay concerns raised.
The minority shareholders lodged a police report on March 12, alleging among other things, misleading statements made by the company to Bursa Malaysia.
They had earlier questioned some of its deals which were said to be highly irregular.
"You need to ensure that you have a forensic accountant who can go through the documents and see what the offences are," said Akhbar Satar, president of TI-M.
"It is important to get an independent party to look into this so that there will be some sort of check and balance," he told Bernama, when commenting on the allegations.
"The company's accounts should also be audited by an independent party. The board must have an independent audit for greater transparency and this oversight will help prevent fraud, misuse of power and corruption," said Akhbar who was last week re-elected to a second term as TI-M chief.
He said due to the various allegations made about the company's affairs, it was only appropriate for law enforcement agencies to investigate and determine
if there was any basis to it.
"Let the agencies investigate and verify if this is commercial crime, corruption or something else," he added.
Akhbar said if there was any element of fraud, a report to the police and Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) was necessary.
"If the case is related to corruption, then a report to the MACC is more appropriate, while commercial crime cases are better reported to the police," he added.
He stressed the importance for companies to put in place good standard operating procedures.
Secondly, their internal control policy must be very practical and adhered to by all staff, including the top management.
"Of utmost importance is for the board of directors to have integrity, otherwise the company will have problems," Akhbar said. – Bernama, March 22, 2015.
