Top Deck Leads Exodus at KPMG Forensic Unit 6 partner-level execs leaving with 75-100 employees, may join rival PwC

Top Deck Leads Exodus at KPMG Forensic Unit
6 partner-level execs leaving with 75-100 employees, may join rival PwC
SRUTHIJITH KK NEW DELHI


Alarge number of professionals from the forensic audit division, including six partner-level executives, are leaving professional services firm KPMG India, amounting to a rare mass exodus, multiple people familiar with the development said. Those quitting include Deepankar Sanwalka, who heads the 1,400-people-strong risk consulting division at the company. The forensic audit division, which employs about 300 people, is part of the risk-consulting group. Five partners of a total of six employed by the forensic audit unit have also quit. According to industry sources and people within the company who asked not to be named, between 75 and 100 staff members are also expected to leave along with the partners. While the partners and some staff have already resigned, many others are in the process or resigning or weighing options. Sudhir Dungarpur, Arpita Pal, Dinesh Anand, Murli Talasaliya and Gaganpreet Puri are the other partners who have resigned. These executives could not be individually reached for comment. Benefitting from the movement could be rival Pricewaterhouse-Coopers, where most of the partners and other executives are headed, according to multiple persons close to the unfolding developments. "We cannot comment on this specific issue. However, we can confirm that PwC India is in an expansion mode. We are always looking at recruiting quality talent in line with our overall growth strategy to provide clients with value-added services," a spokeswoman said. Bitter War for Talent
KPMG said it has appointed a new head for the forensic services unit. "As part of our long-term strategy to transform ourselves to meet the fast-changing market scenario, we expect to see several internal alignments and therefore movements," a company spokesperson said in a statement.
The firm has named Sandeep Dhupia as the new head of the forensic practice. Ritesh Tiwari from KPMG's Australia practice and Mohit Bahl from the India practice will move in to strengthen the forensic audit division, the company said.
The forensic division is a key business for KPMG and has been engaged in a number of highprofile forensic audits such as the Satyam and Commonwealth Games scandal. The company was also engaged by the Bharti-Walmart joint venture for a comprehensive internal enquiry.
The unit also found itself under unfavourable glare when the Serious Fraud Investigation Office said last year it would look into the role of a 2010 forensic audit by KPMG into Reebok India, which did not detect an accounting scandal at the firm that later unravelled. A person familiar with the development said the forensic unit is a Rs100-crore business for KPMG India annually. The company did not comment on the size of the business.
In a market where the big four accounting firms are caught in a bitter battle for talent, as ET reported last month, a large-scale exodus of this nature will be a setback for KPMG.
KPMG India got a new CEO in Richard Rekhy last year, who beat incumbent Russell Pereira in a hotly contested leadership election in which some 150 partners voted. Pereira, who was CEO between 2006 and 2012, subsequently left to join PwC. Since taking the helm at KPMG, Rekhy has built his own team. He hired Nischae Suri from Mercer to head the people and change practice, Utkarsh Palnitkar from Centrum to head transaction and restructuring, and Ambarish Dasgupta from PwC to head management consulting. "KPMG in India is a leader in forensics and under Sandeep's leadership, I am confident the practice will continue to grow. KPMG continues to remain committed to the practice," Rekhy said in a statement to ET.