Big Four accounting giant EY is facing a probe over its audits of the Post Office in relation to the Horizon scandal from March 2015 to March 2018, the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) announced today.
The accounting regulator is investigating whether EY met its standards “with particular reference to matters related to the Horizon IT system”, discrepancies in which led to the Post Office scandal that saw hundreds of postmasters wrongly convicted.
The Post Office declined to comment and EY said it takes its responsibilities “extremely seriously” and will be “fully cooperating” with the FRC.
EY said it had been notified of the FRC investigation, adding: “We take our public interest responsibilities extremely seriously and will be fully co-operating with the FRC during their investigation.”
Last week, EY was slapped was a £4.9m fine for “serious breaches” when it audited collapsed travel company Thomas Cook, including failing to properly challenge the company’s management on its ability to continue as a going concern. On Monday, the firm was fined a further £325,000 for signing off Stirling Water Seafield Finance’s books for 2019.
