Ernst & Young raided amid fraud probe in Hong Kong

14. Ernst & Young raided amid fraud probe in Hong
    Kong

The Hong Kong offices of accounting giant Ernst & Young were raided by police
as part of a fraud investigation linked to the city’s biggest corporate
collapse, local media said on Wednesday.

The search, which occurred on Tuesday, came after Ernst & Young was accused in
court earlier this month of falsifying documents to shield itself from a
negligence claim brought by the liquidators of electronics company Akai
Holdings, the South China Morning Post reported.

The lawsuit ended last week with an out-of-court settlement, with Ernst &
Young paying the liquidators, Borrelli Walsh, hundreds of millions of Hong
Kong dollars, according to the Post.

Police only confirmed the Commercial Crime Bureau of the Hong Kong Police
Force searched offices of an accounting firm Tuesday and took away some
documents in connection to a ‘suspected forgery’ case, spokeswoman Candice Siu
said. She did not identify the firm.

Siu said a 41-year-old man surnamed Dang was also arrested. The Post
identified the man as Edmund Dang, one of Ernst & Young’s partners in Hong
Kong.

Ernst & Young’s spokeswoman in Hong Kong did not immediately respond to calls
seeking comment.

Akai was liquidated in August 2000 and left creditors with debts of more than
$ 1 billion, making it the city’s biggest corporate liquidation.

(Source :
Associated Press, 30-9-2009)