At a hearing of the disciplinary tribunal of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of New Zealand held in public on
26 November 2007, at which the member was in attendance and represented by counsel, Tracey Joy Arnerich, a chartered accountant of Auckland admitted particulars (a), (b), (c), (d), (e), (f), (i) and (k) and amended particulars (g) and (h) and pleaded guilty to charges 2 and 4.
Particulars (j) and (l) and charges 1, 3 and 5 were withdrawn.
The charges and particulars were as follows:
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(1) (withdrawn);
(2) conduct unbecoming an accountant; and/or
(3) (withdrawn);
(4) breaching the Rules and/or the institute's Code of Ethics, specifically Rule 18.2 and/or 19.2(c) and/or the fundamental principle(s) of integrity and/or professional behaviour and/or Appendix 1 of the Code of Ethics; and/or
(5) (withdrawn).
Particulars
IN THAT
In her role as a Chartered Accountant and in relation to complaints, the member:
(a) has offered and/or continues to offer accounting services to the public without holding a certificate of public practice in breach of Rule 18.2; and/or
(b) is a director and shareholder of Arnerich & Associates Limited, a company which offers accounting services to the public, without the consent of council, in breach of Rule 19.2(c); and/or
(c) failed to comply with an undertaking to the Institute
of Chartered Accountants of New Zealand, dated
15 December 2006, to completely cease advertising accounting services, in that she displayed a sign advertising her accounting services outside her house on or about 14 March 2007 and/or sent a letter printed
on Arnerich & Associates Limited letterhead on or about 28 March 2007 and/or sent emails which inferred a relationship between herself and Arnerich & Associates Limited on or about 8 March 2007 and/or 22 March 2007 and/or 1 April 2007, in breach of the fundamental principle(s) of integrity and/or professional behaviour and/or Rule 1 and/or paragraph 30 of the Code of Ethics; and/or
(d) failed to comply with an undertaking to the Institute
of Chartered Accountants of New Zealand, dated
15 December 2006, to not actively pursue or take on new clients until a certificate of public practice was obtained, in that she informed the professional conduct committee that she purchased a block of fees from another member in February 2007 in breach of the fundamental principle(s) of integrity and/or professional behaviour and/or Rule 1 and/or paragraph 30 of the Code of Ethics; and/or
(e) failed to comply with an undertaking to the Institute
of Chartered Accountants of New Zealand, dated
15 December 2006, to take all steps to regulate the practice of Arnerich & Associates Limited, as soon as possible, in that she has not obtained her certificate of public practice, in breach of the fundamental principle(s) of integrity and/or professional behaviour and/or Rule 1 and/or paragraph 30 of the Code of Ethics; and/or
(f) downloaded and/or otherwise transferred files from the client database of A & Associates to her home computer without authority and in breach of the fundamental principle(s) of integrity and/or professional behaviour and/or Rule 12 of the Code of Ethics; and/or
(g) downloaded and/or otherwise transferred, precedents and templates from the practice of A & Associates to her home computer without authority and in breach
of the fundamental principle(s) of integrity and/or professional behaviour and/or Rule 12 of the Code of Ethics; and/or
(h) instructed an associate to provide to her, to download and/or otherwise transfer, client database records and/or precedents and templates and/or other documents, from the practice of A & Associates in breach of the fundamental principle(s) of integrity and/or professional behaviour and/or Rule 12 and/or Appendix 1 paragraph 3 of the Code of Ethics; and/or
(i) admitted downloading and/or otherwise transferring files from the client database and/or precedents and templates and/or other documents from the practice
of A & Associates, without forethought to the
consequences and/or the sensitivity of the documents
to A & Associates, in breach of Rule 9 and/or Rule
14 of the Code of Ethics; and/or
(j) (withdrawn);
(k) misled the public by advertising and using stationery which implied that she had the approval to offer accounting services to the public from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of New Zealand, in breach
of the fundamental principle of integrity and/or Rule
2 of the Code of Ethics; and/or
(l) (withdrawn).
Reasons
This case involves a member not holding a certificate of public practice who was employed by a sole practitioner who passed away after a period of illness.
The member has foolishly and impatiently proceeded to offer accounting services to the public in the expectation that a certificate of public practice was imminent.
The member has conspired with an associate to obtain intellectual property from the deceased's practice for personal advantage. The member has admitted breaching
the terms of an undertaking given to the institute not to actively pursue or take on new clients.
As to publication, the tribunal is not persuaded that the member's desire for anonymity outweighs the interests of the public and the institute's members.
Orders of the Tribunal
(a) Pursuant to Rule 21.31 (c) of the Rules of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of New Zealand, the disciplinary tribunal ordered that Tracey Joy Arnerich pay to the institute a monetary penalty of $7,000.00.
(b) Pursuant to Rule 21.31 (k) of the Rules of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of New Zealand, the disciplinary tribunal ordered that Tracey Joy Arnerich be censured.
(c) Pursuant to Rule 21.33 of the Rules of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of New Zealand, the disciplinary tribunal ordered that Tracey Joy Arnerich pay to the institute the sum of $17,000.00 (inclusive of GST) in respect of the costs and expenses of the hearing before the disciplinary tribunal and the investigation by the professional conduct committee and the cost of the publicity.
In accordance with Rule 21.35 of the Rules of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of New Zealand, the decision of the disciplinary tribunal will automatically be published
in the Chartered Accountants Journal and on the institute's website and the tribunal directed that the decision be published in the Western Leader, the New Zealand Gazette and the New Zealand Herald with mention of the member's name and locality.
The publicity in the Chartered Accountants Journal, the New Zealand Gazette and on the website will be the full version of the notice of decision, and the version in the Western Leader and the New Zealand Herald will be
the abbreviated version of the notice of decision with reference to the full decision on the institute's website.
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 28th day of November 2007.
R. J. O. HOARE, Chairman, Disciplinary Tribunal.