How KPMG raked in £29m from bust Carillion

UNDER- FIRE KPMG earned £ 29.4m auditing collapsed builder Carillion’s accounts.

The scandal-hit accountant has checked the construction giant’s books since 1999 and is facing questions over how it gave them a clean bill of health in March 2017.

Carillion went into compulsory liquidation last Monday with debts of up to £5bn and only £29m cash in the bank.

Bosses will be hauled before MPs to explain what went wrong. KPMG also faces a possible probe from accountancy watchdog the Financial Reporting Council. Frank Field, chairman of the parliamentary work and pensions committee, is demanding answers from KPMG on how robustly it examined Carillion’s accounts.

Last year KPMG was cleared of wrongdoing over its audit of HBOS before it collapsed. But a probe by the Mail found there were at least three former KPMG employees on the investigating committee.

It has also emerged that Carillion was forced to reveal extra information in its 2016 accounts following an FRC review. It is not clear what the information was.

A KPMG spokesman said: ‘Transparency and accountability are vital in building public trust in audit. We welcome the opportunity to assist the committee’s investigations and will provide our fullest co-operation.’