Auditing firm ditches Oakbay while Outa triumphs in court

Auditing firm SizweNtsalubaGobodo (SNG) on Tuesday joined the growing list of firms ditching the Gupta family’s Oakbay Resources and Energy and its related entities.

Oakbay stopped trading on the JSE on July 18 in a voluntary delisting that was forced by the withdrawal of its key service providers, which are required by the exchange. Terbium Financial Services terminated its role as Oakbay’s JSE transfer secretary on 31 July, while River Group terminated its role as its JSE sponsor in June.

“The board took this decision after a thorough assessment of its relationship with the company, which has spanned 18 months,” SNG said on Tuesday.

“When SNG took over the audit of Oakbay, the risks associated with the engagement were evaluated in terms of the professional standards.

“As is required by the code of professional conduct, when SNG were approached to take over the audit of Oakbay, SNG made contact with the outgoing auditor in order to establish whether there were any professional reasons why it would not be appropriate to accept the engagement. However, more recently, following subsequent developments, SNG have concluded to withdraw from the engagement,” it said.

SNG’s announcement followed a court ruling that froze the accounts of the Guptaowned Optimum and Koornfontein mine rehabilitation funds worth R1.75bn. Only a few days are left before the Bank of Baroda closes the bank accounts.

The High Court in Pretoria on Tuesday granted civil rights group Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) an urgent interim interdict freezing the accounts, The mine rehabilitation funds sit with the Bank of Baroda.

Outa approached the court last week after it dismissed an application by Gupta-owned companies in a bid to stop the bank from closing its accounts at the end of September. Outa believed the imminent closure of the Guptas’ Bank of Baroda accounts might have put the funds at risk. The Gupta companies will still have a shot at trying to stop the bank in the main application for an interim interdict on December 7.

Outa has accused the trustees of the mining rehabilitation funds of deliberately and unlawfully allowing the family to use the trust to pay back loans.

Outa’s urgent application was not opposed and the court ordered that the Bank of Baroda continue to hold the rehabilitation funds in interest-bearing accounts in the trusts’ names.

COURT ORDERED BANK OF BARODA CONTINUE TO HOLD THE FUNDS GUPTA COMPANIES STILL HAVE A SHOT AT TRYING TO STOP THE BANK