The Securities and Exchange Commission has suspended the former chief risk officer at Deloitte for at least two years over claims that he took thousands of dollars in markers from a casino gaming company that was a Deloitte audit client.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has suspended the former chief risk officer at Deloitte for at least two years over claims that he took thousands of dollars in markers from a casino gaming company that was a Deloitte audit client.

The SEC said in a statement that California-based accountant James Adams was found to have violated auditor independence rules that ensure audit firms maintain their objectivity and impartiality with respect to their clients.

The US authority said Adams repeatedly accepted tens of thousands of dollars in casino markers while he was the advisory partner on subsidiary Deloitte & Touche’s audit of a casino gaming corporation. 

Markers are instruments used by casino customers to receive gaming chips drawn against the their line of credit.

Adams opened a line of credit with a casino run by the gaming corporation client and used the casino markers to draw on that line of credit, the SEC said. He concealed his casino markers from Deloitte & Touche and also lied to another partner when asked if he had casino markers from audit clients of the firm.

Adams agreed to settle the SEC’s charges by being suspended for at least two years from practicing as an accountant.

“The transactions by which Adams accepted the casino markers were loans from an audit client that are prohibited by the auditor independence rules. Auditor independence is critical to the integrity of the financial reporting process. Through his extensive use of casino markers, Adams clearly violated the rules and put his own desires ahead of his client’s interests,” said Scott Friestad, associate director in the SEC’s division of enforcement.