Avatar Agency Group yet again was firmly absolved following a second independent investigation by accounting firm, BDO.
The allegations, which purported that Avatar “overcharged for its services”, were made by then suspended former Brand SA CEO and not Brand SA itself. The narrative was then picked up by some media outlets.
The independent investigation report, conducted by accounting firm BDO and commissioned by Brand South Africa itself, made no adverse findings against Avatar.
The first investigation report conducted by Nexia SAB&T, an independent audit firm, concluded that there was no wrongdoing on Avatar Agency’s part. This report was commissioned by Avatar.
A second report by BDO concurs with the findings of the first report.
The BDO report made various findings, including the fact that “there was economic value derived” and does not make any adverse findings on all the allegations claimed by the then suspended CEO.
In 2019, Carte Blanche aired an episode on the matter. “However, they [Carte Blanche] ignored the facts and failed to reference the findings of the Nexia SAB&T report that exonerated Avatar from any wrongdoing despite it being made available to them,” says Zibusiso Mkhwanazi, Group CEO of Avatar Agency Group.
“Despite this unfortunate incident, we are grateful to our staff, clients and partners who continue to believe in what Avatar stands for. We continue to build and grow and have created employment for more than 40 people since the incident, we have won new blue-chip clients locally and internationally, as well as signed a successful acquisition. We consider this matter behind us,” concluded Mkhwanazi.
The summary of the independent BDO report can be downloaded here.
