Sweets of Oman reports “huge losses” due to misstatements

Sweets of Oman SAOG, a Rusayl based confectionery maker listed on the Muscat Securities Exchange (MSX), announced on Thursday that a criminal case has been lodged against a number of managers in connection with a fraud uncovered by the company in its accounts.

The company had revealed earlier this year that, following an independent review of its accounts, a “misstatement” of its financial statements had been discovered, leading to a significant increase in its accumulated losses.

In a filing to the Capital Market Authority (CMA) on Thursday, Sweets of Oman said the misstatement occurred in the financial statements for the years 2017 – 2018 – 2019 and until June 30, 2020, representing the second quarter of the financial year ended on December 31, 2020.

“The company, with the approval of the government, appointed a specialised auditing company to verify any other frauds, and the company shall receive the report in the near future,” a statement on behalf of the Chairman said.

Following the uncovering of the misstatement, four senior executives — the General Manager, Finance Manager, Assistant Finance Manager, Purchase Manager and Information Technology Manager — were suspended and eventually dismissed. A criminal case was also instituted against them with the Economic Crimes section, it said.

“As the financial impact resulting from the above mentioned misstatements, the company incurred a huge loss of amounts which were disclosed previously in this regard. As such, the business of the company is duly affected as a result of these financial losses incurred by the company,” the Chairman added.