Auditoria externa: uma análise acerca do posicionamento dos auditores no caso da Petrobras

Abstract

In 2014, the Lava Jato (Car Wash) operation was sparked, leading to the discovery of money laundering, payment of bribes and overbilling practice on public contracts of the Brazilian largest state company, the publicly-held Petrobras, whose financial statements are audited and published. Thus, the present study aimed to analyze the kinds of opinion delivered by the audits carried out in the periods before and after the start of the operation, between 2012 and 2017. The purpose was to verify if the auditors pointed out, in the years that preceded the operation, some evidences on what was about to be discovered and if, following its outbreak, the auditors changed the opinions expressed on the reports. The findings of the work suggested that, over all the analyzed years, the audit always issued “Unmodified Opinion” after the “Emphasis” and the “Other Audit Matters” paragraphs, not expressing unqualified opinion, what ensures that the company’s financial statements were in accordance with its equity and financial position. It’s also possible to conclude that the information discovered by the Lava Jato operation may be related to the entity’s internal controls, leading to the need of a deeper analysis on these controls and on the Petrobras internal audit proceedings.