Accounting firm controlled by Exclusive Brethren church to close after extraordinary ATO raid

The ATO reportedly raided the Sydney headquarters of UBT at Sydney Olympic Park in March. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

The accounting firm controlled by the secretive Exclusive Brethren church has announced it will close after an extraordinary raid conducted by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).

Universal Business Team’s Australian accounting division, known as UBTA, sent an email to clients on Wednesday advising them that its accounting division would close.

“We want to inform you of some important changes in relation to UBTA, as a result of which UBTA will cease to offer tax compliance services and will close,” the email, seen by Guardian Australia, states.

“This has been a hard decision. UBTA has operated for many years, working with many businesses and has been the bedrock of many careers. We are very grateful for your support of UBTA over the years.”

UBT’s UK and New Zealand operations remain unaffected.

The email was sent by members of the UBTA board – senior Brethren members Phil McNaughton, Stephen Henderson, Marcus John, Caleb Hall and Logan Currie.

UBT is the umbrella organisation for the various businesses and charities run by the sect under the leadership of Bruce Hales, an accountant who is also the church’s spiritual leader known as the “Man of God” and “elect vessel”.

The UBTA board members are all senior members of the church and closely aligned with Hales.

In March, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that the ATO had raided the Sydney headquarters of UBT at The Precinct in Olympic Park.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald story, the raid was conducted “without prior notice” by the ATO’s private wealth – behaviours of concern section.

It is not known if the subsequent closure of the firm has any link to the ATO activity.

The email from the UBTA Australian board offers assistance to clients to transition to another accounting practice, saying the “transition plan includes recommending suitable alternative accounting providers if that is of assistance”.

“We will continue to operate as business as usual in the meantime and until our client engagements are fulfilled. Our staff are aware and we are working closely with them on the process.”

UBT, which is reported to have annual turnover of $500m, is the cornerstone organisation for the businesses and charities run by the Brethren, which now goes by the name the Plymouth Brethren Christian church.

The church, once described by former prime minister Kevin Rudd as an “extremist cult”, preaches a strict doctrine of separation from “worldly” people, meaning its members are not allowed to socialise with non-members.

The Brethren also run a network of schools called OneSchool Global and a public-facing charity called the Rapid Relief Team, both of which benefit from UBT profits.

In response to questions from Guardian Australia about whether the closure was linked to the ATO’s activity, a spokesperson for the ATO said: “The ATO cannot comment on the tax affairs of any individual or entity due to our obligations of confidentiality under the law.”

A spokesperson for UBTA said the organisation had operated for almost 14 years managing compliance matters for family-owned businesses.

“The UBTA Australia Board has made the difficult decision to close the UBTA Australia operations. The UK and New Zealand operations remain unaffected by this decision,” the spokesperson said.

“The decision was driven by commercial factors.”

The spokesperson said staff would be supported with redeployment or redundancy.