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- BDO's Yashoda Ram was appointed as the provisional curator of an insurance underwriter, 3SixtyLife, in December.
- The SA Reserve Bank's Prudential Authority has removed her because she allegedly misrepresented her qualifications.
- But she says those are fake allegations and all her qualifications can be verified with the Actuarial Society of South Africa.
Accounting firm BDO South Africa has suspended its head of actuarial services Yashoda Ram because of the alleged misrepresentation of her qualifications.
Ram was appointed as the provisional curator of insurance underwriter 3SixtyLife in December 2021 after an urgent application by the SA Reserve Bank's Prudential Authority (PA).
On Thursday, BDO said it recently became aware of alleged discrepancies in the representation of Ram's qualifications. Business Day reported on Thursday morning that the Reserve Bank launched an urgent court motion to remove Ram earlier this week.
It said the Prudential Authority alleged that Ram did not have a degree in actuarial science. She allegedly also did not complete the Certified Enterprise Risk Actuary (CERA) course as indicated in her original interim curatorship application.
BDO SA has removed all information about Ram from its website, and it's not clear which other qualifications she claimed to have.
"BDO has suspended the employee concerned and will conduct a full independent investigation into the matter," said BDO South Africa in a short statement.
The accounting and consulting firm said it could not divulge more information about the 3SixtyLife curatorship because of client confidentiality.
But it has agreed with the Prudential Authority to replace Ram with another actuarial specialist at the firm, Tinashe Mashoko. It said Mashoko is a consultant to BDO and has been part of the team working on the 3SixtyLife matter.
"[Mashoko] is well acquainted with the 3SixtyLife matter. We are confident that his appointment will assist in meeting the relevant deadlines as per the court order," added BDO.
Ram Responds
After BDO's announcement, Ram's lawyer published a statement, calling the questioning of her qualifications unfounded "fake allegations". Ram also said that BDO South Africa was at all times fully appraised of her qualifications.
"The substance of the publications, which are defamatory and false, have serious ramifications extending beyond the current court proceedings and, therefore, need to be addressed," read the statement.
"Ram has never misrepresented her qualifications. She is an active member of the Actuarial Society of South Africa (ASSA)," it continued.
It said all the exams and qualifications she obtained to date could be verified with ASSA.
The statement added the Prudential Authority's application to remove Ram as 3Sixty Life's provisional curator was still being considered by a judge, and she reserves her right to comment while that process is ongoing.
But for now, she is still the court-appointed and provisional curator of 3Sixty Life.
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