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Warne charity can’t explain cash

An independent audit into the charity established by former cricketer Shane Warne has been unable to draw conclusions on the foundation’s cash donations due to its accounting practices.

Late last year, Consumer Affairs Victoria ordered The Shane Warne Foundation submit an audit report after discovering financial inconsistencies in its books.

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CAV confirmed it had received the report on Friday, after it extended a February 29 deadline to March 11.

The report, conducted by the firm KPMG, found the foundation had complied with most of its obligations, but – between 2012 and 2015 – did not meet requirements relating to the lodgement and submissions of its annual accounts by their due date.

Shane Warne

Warne faced questions about his charity after his exit from I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here. Image: Network Ten

The report also found that while cash donations were a significant revenue source, it was unable to establish how much cash the foundation received from the financial records it was provided.

“The foundation has determined that it is impracticable to establish control over the collection of cash donations prior to entry into its financial records,” the report said.

“Accordingly, as the evidence available to us regarding fundraising revenue from this source was limited, our audit procedures with respect to cash donations had to be restricted to the amounts recorded in the financial records.

“We therefore are unable to express an opinion … whether cash donations at the foundation are completely recorded for both the previous registration period (July 2012 to June 2015) and current registration period (July 1 2015- December 31, 2015).”

It found because of limitations in gathering evidence and the charity’s internal controls, it was possible fraud, error, or non-compliance may occur and not be found.

CAV said in a statement that it would assess the report and would “not make any further comment until the assessment is complete”.

TSWF, which shut down earlier this year, citing “unwanted speculation” about its distribution of funds, has been contacted for comment and has yet to respond.

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