Assetco sold its fleet of fire engines for £2 after an accounting scandal PELHAMThe auditor of Assetco, which nearly collapsed amid an accounting scandal in 2011, has been ordered to pay more than £21 million in damages to its former client for negligence “of the utmost gravity”. The ruling against Grant Thornton is the largest court-ordered award against an auditor in Britain. Mr Justice Bryan said Grant Thornton’s work was “negligence of the highest order” and a “flagrant breach of duty” that undermined public confidence in accountancy firms. He said Grant Thornton, Britain’s fifth largest accountant, failed to apply appropriate professional scepticism when signing off Assetco’s accounts, meaning that dishonesty by some senior executives was not exposed and the company ran up significant trading losses. “Grant Thornton’s failings were very serious, indeed flagrant breaches of duty,” the judge…

Source: The Times January 31, 2019 17:03 UTC