{"id":829135,"date":"2026-07-28T13:36:20","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T13:36:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/829135\/"},"modified":"2026-07-28T13:36:20","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T13:36:20","slug":"kpmg-directors-flee-as-whistleblower-scandal-worsens-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/829135\/","title":{"rendered":"KPMG directors flee as whistleblower scandal worsens"},"content":{"rendered":"

Updated July 28, 2026 \u2014 4:56pm,first published 3:56pm<\/p>\n

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KPMG\u2019s newly installed chairman Michael Ebeid will have to find multiple new board members willing to help reform the embattled consultancy after one independent director quietly quit and another signalled her intention to resign within months.<\/p>\n

KPMG director Patty Akopiantz quietly left the firm\u2019s regional board last month, following former NSW premier Mike Baird\u2019s exit in September, and fellow independent director Jane Hemstritch is expected to resign once replacements have been found.<\/p>\n

\"PattyPatty Akopiantz has quietly left the KPMG board as the firm battles an escalating crisis.Getty Images<\/p>\n

The departures will give KPMG a chance to refresh its leadership in the wake of its whistleblower scandal, but also show the challenge it faces in attracting credentialled professionals as the saga gets worse over time.<\/p>\n

KPMG has been in crisis since Labor Senator Deborah O\u2019Neill revealed allegations from a whistleblower that the firm had misused confidential client information in an attempt to win work. Many of the whistleblower\u2019s most serious claims have since been confirmed despite KPMG initially repeatedly downplaying them.<\/p>\n

Akopiantz\u2019s departure was not publicly announced, but documents released by parliament on Tuesday show she advised the investigating committee that she had left the embattled consultancy\u2019s board in June.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would like to advise that at the end of June I resigned as a board member of KPMG\u2019s South Asia Pacific Board and have no ongoing role with KPMG,\u201d Akopiantz wrote. Her departure follows the exit of NSW premier Mike Baird in September last year<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Other recent departures from the board include former chief executive Andrew Yates, chairman Martin Sheppard, and a senior partner at the firm Kim Lawry. Lawry resigned from the KPMG board and partnership this month after Westpac requested that she be removed from its audit \u201cto ensure there is no distraction\u201d.<\/p>\n

KPMG sources said Hemstritch, the independent board member, planned to leave the board later this year when Ebeid finds fresh recruits to preside over the embattled firm.<\/p>\n

KPMG referred to previous remarks by Ebeid when contacted for comment. \u201cMy first priority is to restore the governance and effectiveness of the board,\u201d Ebeid said when he was first appointed acting chairman<\/a> in early July. \u201cWe will reshape the KPMG Australia Board with equal independent and partner representation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before Baird and Akopiantz left, the independent directors raised concerns about KPMG\u2019s handling of the whistleblower\u2019s<\/a> claims. She and Hemstritch are both accomplished corporate directors, having held roles at companies such as EnergyAustralia, Axa and AMP, and Commonwealth Bank, Telstra and Lendlease respectively.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Eileen<\/a><\/p>\n

The news of Akopiantz\u2019s departure comes just days after KPMG\u2019s new boss John Sams sacked former chief operating officer Eileen Hoggett after she lied about accessing sensitive board documents from client Lendlease and stored copies in her work locker.<\/p>\n

That was reported on Friday, but the documents released on Tuesday show how KPMG disclosed it to O\u2019Neill\u2019s parliamentary committee.<\/p>\n

\u201cNew evidence has been identified in relation to one of the whistleblower\u2019s allegations,\u201d KPMG wrote in the documents. \u201cSpecifically, the allegation that client information relating to the Lendlease audit was retained in a locker at KPMG\u2019s Sydney office by Eileen Hoggett, KPMG Australia\u2019s former Chief Operating Officer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis allegation had previously been denied by Ms Hoggett. However, based on the evidence now obtained, KPMG accepts that the allegation has been substantiated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sams told partners on Friday that he was beyond angry about the development. \u201cThe conduct was totally unacceptable, and it is unacceptable that it has taken so long for us to get to this point,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The Market Recap newsletter is a wrap of the day\u2019s trading. Get it each weekday afternoon<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\"ColinColin Kruger<\/a> is a senior business reporter for the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via email<\/a>.\"NickNick Bonyhady<\/a> is the business editor of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. He is a former deputy federal editor, technology editor and industrial relations reporter.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Updated July 28, 2026 \u2014 4:56pm,first published 3:56pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":828742,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[64,63,99],"class_list":["post-829135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/829135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=829135"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/829135\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/828742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=829135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=829135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=829135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}