Accountant faces disciplinary hearing over car from client

A former partner at the accountancy firm Deloitte & Touche is to face a disciplinary hearing over how he came to acquire a Range Rover from an audit client.

The profession's conduct regulator, the Joint Disciplinary Scheme, has also investigated Deloitte over its work for Capital Corporation and it is currently considering whether to bring a complaint against the firm. Capital, a now defunct company that owned Crockford's casino in London, was audited by Deloitte in the 1990s. The company's accounts were later questioned amid allegations of poor controls and large amounts of fine wines going missing.

Stephen Ives, a Deloitte partner at the time, acquired a Range Rover from Capital, which had been using it as a company car. What is in dispute is how it was paid for by Mr Ives, who left the accountancy firm in 1996, after questions about the matter were raised. The JDS yesterday said a Tribunal will be appointed to hear a complaint against Mr Ives. It is alleged that Deloitte was, in effect, billed for the Range Rover through a reduction in the audit fee it received from Capital.

Another accountant, Dineshkumar Patel, who had his own practice, is also to come before the Tribunal over his role in allegedly helping Mr Ives cover up the nature of the Range Rover purchase. The JDS said both men had failed to cooperate with its investigation. The Range Rover allegations only came to light after the JDS started a broader inquiry into Deloitte's work for Capital following a referral from the Institute of Chartered Accountants.