Key facts
- Deloitte was fined £6.05 million by the UK's Financial Reporting Council (FRC).
- The fine relates to Deloitte's audits of Go-Ahead Group for the financial years 2016-2020.
- The penalty was reduced from £11 million due to Deloitte's cooperation and admissions.
- Go-Ahead Group wrongly withheld £50 million of taxpayers' money.
- The FRC opened its investigation into Deloitte's audit of Go-Ahead in March 2022.
Deloitte has been fined £6.05 million by Britain's Financial Reporting Council (FRC) for its audits of transport operator Go-Ahead Group covering the financial years from 2016 to 2020. The FRC stated that the financial penalty was reduced from an initial £11 million due to Deloitte's "exceptional cooperation" and admissions.
The investigation by the FRC, which commenced in March 2022, stemmed from a scandal where Go-Ahead Group wrongly withheld approximately £50 million of taxpayers' money. The transport group was found to have retained funds from its rail franchises over several years. The Department for Transport had previously fined Go-Ahead £23.5 million over the issue.
Following the scandal, Go-Ahead's chief financial officer, Elodie Brian, who served as CFO at Southeastern during most of the period of the breaches, stepped down in September. The group's chief executive, David Brown, also resigned.