Press gave great visibility (see http://epoca.globo.com/politica) to a declaration made by KPMG, that audited Petrobras as from 2007 to 2011, saying, “They did not see acts of corruption perpetrated by Lula da Silva in Petrobras”. This is obviously being used by the PT (Workers` Party) lobbying blogs as a “clearance certificate” to Lula, issued by “one of the largest audit firms in the world”. Well, we know two things:
– KPMG did not see ANY corruption during that time – Lula`s or otherwise – although it was clear to anyone that corruption did exist in Petrobras in that period of time;
– It is not the Independent Auditor`s function, in any company, to specifically identify cases of corruption. What we independent auditors check is the accuracy of the financial statements, taken “as a whole” vis-à-vis the accounting rules and regulations (IFRS, in Brazil).
Therefore, this is all a big “wax nose” of the press to interpret this simple affirmation as a clearance certificate to Lula. If we believe in the dozens of testimonies and evidence collected by Lava-Jato task force and the evidence of illicit enrichment of Lula da Silva family in the last years, of course we will condemn Lula for what I personally thing he is: a populist thief.
Let`s not blame KPMG for not having “caught” Lula. It was not their job to do it. Lula is extremely good at concealing evidence and tampering with justice.
The same happened to PwC later on (from 2012 fiscal year). It was not PwC`s job to find out collusions to commit crimes. Not even Petrobras` internal auditors saw the corruption (extremely high-level actions) or at least could not bring it to daylight.
In an extremely low cultural level country as Brazil is, with an aggressive brain-washing style propaganda from PT and other extreme-left parties as can be seen from 2002 on, such an affirmation will certainly be believed by the populace as a proof of Lula`s innocence. It`s all that matters in this highly contaminated political environment.