Notice Type
General Notices
Notice Title

Notice of Decision of the Disciplinary Tribunal

of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of
New Zealand (Member Guilty of Misconduct
in a Professional Capacity and Breaching the Institute’s Code of Ethics)
At a hearing of the Disciplinary Tribunal of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of New Zealand held in public on the 7th day of December 2005, at which the member was
in attendance and was not represented by counsel, Bruce Frederick McCullough, of Wellington, pleaded guilty to the following charges (1) and (2) and admitted the following particulars (a), (b), (c), (d) and (e).
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 is guilty of:
(1) misconduct in a professional capacity; and/or
(2) breaching the institute’s code of ethics (1995), specifically EP29.
Particulars
IN THAT in his role as a chartered accountant in public practice, the member:
(a) prepared two sets of financial statements for his client’s Company A for the year ended the 31st day of March 2002 that contained significant differences in the statement of operating results and the statement of financial position; and/or
(b) knew, or reasonably should have known, that one
set of financial statements for the year ended the 31st day of March 2002 would be provided to a bank and that the other would be filed with the Inland Revenue Department; and/or
(c) prepared two sets of financial statements for his client’s Company A for the year ended the 31st
day of 31 March 2003 that contained significant differences in the statement of operating results and the statement of financial position; and/or
(d) knew, or reasonably should have known, that one
set of financial statements for the year ended the 31st day of March 2003 would be provided to a bank and that the other would be filed with the Inland Revenue Department; and/or
(e) knew that the financial statements provided to the bank for the year ended the 31st day of 31 March 2002 and/or the 31st day of March 2003 contained false and/or incorrect and/or misleading information.
Reasons
It was the unanimous view of the tribunal that this is a fundamental issue of professionalism and integrity. Preparing two sets of accounts by design and not by accident and to do so repeatedly is not acceptable behaviour by a member of the institute.
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 Bruce Frederick McCullough be removed from the institute’s Register of members.
(b) Pursuant to Rule 21.33 of the Rules of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of New Zealand, the disciplinary tribunal ordered that Bruce Frederick McCullough pay to the institute the sum of $3,036.00 (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 of the tribunal be published in the Chartered Accountants Journal, the
New Zealand Gazette and the Dominion Post with mention of the member’s name and locality.
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 14th day of December 2005.
R. J. O. HOARE, Tribunal Chairman.
Important Notice: New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants is the operating name of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of New Zealand.