The company providing the lion's share of the government's programme to transform NHS IT is facing a formal investigation by the Financial Services Authority (FSA).
In a statement given to the London Stock Exchange today, iSoft said:
On 8 August iSOFT announced that it had completed an initial investigation into possible accounting irregularities. The conclusion of this initial investigation was that there is evidence of irregularities affecting the financial years ended 30 April 2004 and 2005 and that there are grounds for a more formal investigation. The findings of the initial investigation were passed by the Group to the FSA. The Group has now received notification from the FSA that they will be undertaking a formal investigation into the possible accounting irregularities."
A spokesman for iSoft told The Reg that former commercial director Steve Graham and another employee had already been put on "special leave". He said: "The other people thought to be involved have already left the company."
Labour MP Paul Farrelly yesterday called for a Department of Trade and Industry investigation into the company.
In other news, UK newspaper The Guardian has given notice that it will seek to remove a gagging order, granted by the High Court, which stops the paper publishing information from two secret iSoft documents it obtained during an investigation into the company.
iSoft must publish its accounts for the year ended 30 April 2006 or face having its shares suspended by the FSA.
iSoft shares have fallen from a year high of 465p per share to just 40p a share today. ®
