EY grad sacked down under for allegedly accessing PM’s bank account
A junior employee at Big Four accounting giant EY Australia has been sacked over allegations he and another man accessed prime minister Anthony Albanese’s personal bank account.
Both men faced court on Tuesday over the breach which, according to the Australian federal police, took place when the EY graduate was on secondment at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, where he allegedly used the bank’s systems to gain access to Albanese’s confidential banking details.
The two men were charged on 6 May and granted bail to appear at a court in Sydney on Tuesday, and are due to appear in court again on 25 August, an Australian federal police spokesperson said in a statement.
The former employee also accessed the confidential bank details of at least one senior EY partner, the Australian Financial Review reported.
This follows the Australian Big Four firm, which is headquartered in London, welcoming a new group of graduates in March and placing them on deployments at the bank to consult on its technology systems.
‘Incredibly concerning’
In a press conference with Australian outlet Canberra, the country’s treasurer, Jim Chalmers, said the allegations were “incredibly concerning.”
“I need to be really careful not to interfere with any legal processes which are underway, but I think on the face of it any developments of that kind are incredibly concerning, not just in relation to the PM’s details but any Australians’ details,” Chalmers said.
An EY Australia spokesperson told CityAM the firm “does not comment on client matters” so declined to comment, and the firm’s London arm declined to comment.
Big Four mayhem under
The Big Four have been rocked by a series of scandals in Australia in recent years. EY rival KPMG was accused by a whistleblower of misusing client data to win audit contracts.
A parliamentary inquiry into the scandal and KPMG’s handling of the whistleblower’s allegations began in Australia earlier this month which resulted in KPMG’s chair and two senior partners stepping down from their roles.
This follows KPMG Australia’s chief executive, Andrew Yates, and audit lead Julian McPherson stepping down at the end of May after the firm admitted to severely mishandling a whistleblower report on client confidentiality breaches.