Botswana retailer suing PwC for R1.3bn

Botswana retailer Choppies, still mired in controversy related to accounting irregularities, is suing audit firm PwC for R1.3bn after it refused to sign off on the company’s results for the year to end-June 2018, saying there were discrepancies in its stock levels at several newly-acquired stores in SA. A Moneyweb report says PwC had also raised concerns about the chain being involved in possible money laundering in Zimbabwe, CEO Ramachandran ‘Ram’ Ottapathu’s ownership in a buying group, and Ottapathu’s and interim acting CEO Farouk Ismail’s holdings in several of the retail group’s suppliers. The delay in the release of the results led to trading in Choppies shares being suspended from both the JSE and the Botswana Stock Exchange in November 2018.