AOB prohibits Sathiea Seelean Manickam from auditing for one year; fines him RM87,500

KUALA LUMPUR: The Securities Commission’s (SC) Audit Oversight Board (AOB) has prohibited Sathiea Seelean Manickam from accepting as clients and auditing any public interest entities (PIEs) or schedule funds for a one-year period, starting Oct 22, 2024.

In a statement, SC said the AOB imposed a fine of RM87,500 on Sathiea.

Sathiea was a partner of Morison Anuarul Azizan Chew, an audit firm formerly registered with the AOB.

He was also the engagement partner for a public listed company (PLC) client for the financial period ended December 31, 2016, as well as for the financial years ended December 31, 2017, and December 31, 2018.

Sathiea did not comply with the relevant International Standards on Auditing (ISA) while auditing the PLC.

Specifically, he did not obtain sufficient audit evidence to support his audit opinion on audit of group financial statements in key audit areas, namely cash and bank balances, prepayments and investments.

Sathiea had appealed to the SC against the AOB’s enforcement action. The SC dismissed the appeal and affirmed the AOB’s decision.