Aventura International, a listed company, manufactures and wholesales a wide variety of products including fashion clothes and audio-video equipment. The company is audited by Voest, a firm of Chartered Certified Accountants, and the audit manager is Darius Harken. The following matters have arisen during the audit of the group's financial statements for the year to 31 December 20X8 which is nearing completion.
(a) During the annual inventory count of fashion clothes at the company's principal warehouse, the audit staff attending the count were invited to purchase any items of clothing or equipment at 30% of their recommended retail prices.
(b) The Chief Executive of Aventura International, Armando Thyolo, owns a private jet. Armando invoices the company, on a monthly basis, for that proportion of the operating costs which reflects business use. One of these invoices shows that Darius Harken was flown to Florida in March 20X8 and flown back two weeks later. Neither Aventura nor Voest have any offices or associates in Florida.
(c) Last week Armando announced his engagement to be married to his personal assistant, Kirsten Fennimore. Before joining Aventura in September 20X8, Kirsten had been Voest's accountant in charge of the audit of Aventura.
Required
Discuss the ethical issues raised and the actions which might be taken by the auditor in relation to these matters.