KPMG to investigate Zimbabwe's finances

KPMG in South Africa have been appointed to carry out the forensic audit of Zimbabwe Cricket which the ICC insisted on at its annual conference in London last month. They will be assisted by the KPMG office in Harare.

The ICC studied the findings of a forensic audit undertaken by the Harare firm of Ruzengwe and Partners and a number of areas of concern arose.

In a leaked document co-written by Malcolm Speed, a number of items were flagged and he noted that "the auditors and ICC have been misled about these transactions".

The report concluded: "It is clear that the accounts of ZC have been deliberately falsified to mask various illegal transactions from the auditors and the government of Zimbabwe. The accounts were incorrect and at no stage did ZC draw the attention of the users of these accounts to the unusual transactions. It may not be possible to rely on the authenticity of its balance sheet."

However, at the meeting Peter Chingoka, the Zimbabwe Cricket chairman, put up a robust defence which persuaded the ICC to ask an international firm of high repute to carry out a second audit. They are due to report back when the ICC next meets in Dubai in October.

KPMG were appointed by FIFA, football's world governing body, in 2003 to investigate allegations of financial mismanagement against the Zimbabwe FA.

Even though Speed wrote that the ZC accounts had been "deliberately falsified" it emerged that the ICC will, nevertheless, pay over millions of dollars because, it claimed, it had no power to withhold the money.

Many stakeholders inside Zimbabwe who have been ostricised by the Chingoka-led board have made serious allegations of financial mismanagement against the executive.