Partners say they \u2018don\u2019t recall\u2019 leaked papers and are accused by lawyers of being misleading as more whistleblowers come forward<\/p>\n
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KPMG staff misled colleagues who tried to investigate leaks of confidential client information, a parliamentary inquiry has heard.<\/p>\n
The audit and consulting firm and leading clients such as Westpac, Macquarie and Optus faced a grilling on Friday. Westpac\u2019s representative threw his weight behind the Labor-led inquiry\u2019s calls for the Albanese government to reform the big four firms.<\/p>\n
Two KPMG partners who quit over leaking client information fronted the inquiry, saying they didn\u2019t recall key elements of the allegations.<\/p>\n
A whistleblower has alleged that KPMG partners leaked board papers from a client, Lendlease, to benefit colleagues who were pursuing and eventually won Westpac\u2019s lucrative audit contract.<\/p>\n
Kim Lawry, the lead partner on the Westpac audit, admitted she shared a photograph of a Lendlease board document from her phone to colleagues.<\/p>\n
Lawry said the document was not useful or relevant to the Westpac audit tender. She said she didn\u2019t remember taking the photo, or knowing that it was a confidential document, or why the document would be worth recording.<\/p>\n
Lawry had $19,000 docked from her bonus but said she didn\u2019t expect KPMG would expel her.<\/p>\n
Her colleague Eileen Hoggett, KPMG\u2019s former chief operating officer, has not been so lucky.<\/p>\n
Hoggett admitted that confidential Lendlease documents \u201cwere printed\u201d and kept in her locker. But she said she did not recall doing this herself, or letting other people see the documents, or using them to win other contracts.<\/p>\n
She was then read a 2023 email where she had suggested showing a colleague \u201cthe printed version in my locker \u2026 without letting too many people know [smiley emoji]\u201d.<\/p>\n
KPMG expelled Hoggett after the email was uncovered in July. Hoggett said the new chief executive, John Sams, rang her while she was out walking one morning, giving her \u201cno opportunity to be heard or to have any discussion\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am still trying to engage with the firm to ascertain, why they took that action, and I\u2019m looking at all of my possibilities to explore that further,\u201d Hoggett said.<\/p>\n
One of KPMG\u2019s top lawyers said his colleagues misled him when he tried to investigate leak allegations.<\/p>\n