of an Offence Punishable by Imprisonment)
At a hearing of the Disciplinary Tribunal of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of New Zealand held on the 5th day of April 2005, which the member did not attend and was
not represented by counsel, the disciplinary tribunal found Ian Nigel Clarke, of Auckland, guilty of the following charges and particulars.
Charges
THAT in terms of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of New Zealand Act 1996 and the rules made thereunder, and in particular Rule 21.30:
? the member has been convicted of an offence punishable by imprisonment and the conviction tends to bring the profession into disrepute.
Particulars
IN THAT on or about the 30th day of November 2004, at the North Shore District Court the member was convicted of various charges of dishonesty, including forgery and drawing a document without authority, and was sentenced to a term of imprisonment of three years and three months.
Orders of the Tribunal
(a) Pursuant to Rule 21.31 (a) of the Rules of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of New Zealand, the disciplinary tribunal ordered that the name of Ian Nigel Clarke be removed from the Register of members of the institute.
(b) Pursuant to Rule 21.31 (d) of the Rules of the
Institute of Chartered Accountants of New Zealand,
the disciplinary tribunal ordered that the Certificate of Public Practice held by Ian Nigel Clarke be cancelled.
(c) Pursuant to Rule 21.33 of the Rules of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of New Zealand, the disciplinary tribunal ordered that Ian Nigel Clarke pay to the institute the sum of $2,401.00 (inclusive of G.S.T.) in respect of the costs and expenses of the hearing before the disciplinary tribunal and the investigation by the professional conduct committee.
In accordance with Rule 21.35 of the Rules of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of New Zealand, the disciplinary tribunal directed that the decision be published in the Chartered Accountants Journal, the New Zealand Gazette and the New Zealand Herald with mention of the member’s name and locality.
Reasons
Where a member commits dishonest acts such as fraud, it tends to bring the institute and the profession into disrepute and of paramount importance is the protection of the public.
Where the fraud is of such a magnitude involving 444 fraud related charges amounting to a total sum of $1,059,598.31, there is no option for the tribunal other than to order the removal of the member’s name from the institute’s Register.
Right of Appeal
Pursuant to Rule 21.41 of the Rules of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of New Zealand which were in force at the time of the original notice of complaint, the member may, not later than 14 days after the notification of this tribunal to the member of the exercise of its powers, appeal in writing to the appeals council of the institute against the decision.
No decision other than the direction as to publicity shall take effect while the member remains entitled to appeal or while any such appeal by the member awaits determination by the appeals council.
Dated this 13th day of April 2005.
R. J. O. HOARE, Acting Tribunal Chairman.