Deloitte US has been sued for professional
malpractice by truck and engine manufacturer Navistar International
in a $500million lawsuit.
Navister alleged Deloitte’s ‘bad accounting’
advice forced it to restate nearly three years of results.
In the lawsuit, which was filed in
a Chicago court, Navistar said Deloitte US was under pressure
from federal regulators and that it “ran away” from accounting
advice it had given over the years and from clean audit opinions it
issued from 2002 to 2005, according to US news reports.
The lawsuit also accuses the Big Four firm of
fraud and negligence.
A Deloitte US spokesperson told the media that
Navistar’s claims were false, adding that the firm will defend
itself vigorously.
The spokesperson called the lawsuit “an
utterly false and reckless attempt to try to shift responsibility
for the wrongdoing of Navistar’s own management”.
The lawsuit seeks compensatory damages,
punitive damages and other remedies.
In 2006, Navistar broke its 98-year long
relationship with Deloitte and hired KPMG US.
Navistar international is listed on the New
York Stock Exchange.
