PWC auditor faces fraud charge over VC finances

A PricewaterhouseCoopers audit partner is facing fraud charges for allegedly failing to adequately scrutinize millions of dollars wrongfully taken from a venture capital fund under the guise of management fees.

In a hearing on January 6, Judge Cameron Elliot rejected Adrian Beamish’s argument he could not be subjected to the Security and Exchange Commission’s enforcement action because his audit work relating to the fund never appeared in statements filed with the agency.

“[The respondent] conducts audits of both public and private entities, which qualifies as practicing before the Commission. It is irrelevant that he may not have been practicing before the Commission in connection with the audits at issue,” Elliot said in a filing.

The SEC brought charges against Beamish in October. It alleges he failed to determine whether an advisor on the Burrill Life Sciences Capital Fund III had proper authorization and rationale for taking money from the fund. He also allegedly failed to ensure the transactions were properly disclosed in the fund’s financial statements.

The owner and principle investment advisor, Steven Burrill, settled an SEC case in 2016 that found he spent the money taken from the fund to keep his other businesses afloat, to pay for family vacations and to pay other unauthorized personal expenses.