BDO Botswana which is a partnership of auditors, was reportedly engaged by Bluthorn in 2016 and was subsequently reappointed from 2017 to 2019 to audit BFM . The embattled Bluthorn group was placed under liquidation in 2021 following a High Court judgment. Before that the regulatory authority, Non-Bank Financial Institutions Regulatory Authority (NBFIRA) discovered, during its supervisory activities in May 2019, that Bluthorn was not fully compliant with the relevant financial services laws. It was further discovered that Bluthorn had channeled the majority of investor funds into one of its related companies being Prime Employee Benefits. In a recently filed lawsuit by its liquidator, Thekiso is suing the auditing firm for BFM, which falls under Bluthorn Group. The auditors are accused of contractual breach by failing to follow audit agreement signed between the parties. "In purporting to perform the 2017, 2018 and 2019 audits, BDO willfully, alternatively grossly negligently, alternatively negligently, breached its obligations under each of the audit agreements," he said.
He alleged that among other things, BDO failed to conduct the audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing. According to his affidavit, Thekiso said had they not breached contractual and statutory obligations in conducting the 2017, 2018 and 2019 audits of BFM, BDO would have uncovered the irregularities and statutory breaches. This he said, would have expressed an audit opinion that the 2017, 2018 and 2019 financial statements did not present fairly, in all material respects. "BDO could have reported the material irregularities and statutory breaches relating to the 2018 and 2019 audit to the relevant authorities," Thekiso argued.
