Accountant is fined and struck off Chartered list
AN ACCOUNTANT who pleaded guilty to four counts of theft at Wexford Circuit Criminal Court in 2015 has been excluded from membership of Chartered Accountants Ireland (CAI) following a disciplinary tribunal relating to a separate matter.
A formal allegation against Nicholas O’Connor, formerly of Reddy O’Connor & Company with an address at Troon Lodge, Ballycrane, Wexford, was heard at a hearing before a Disciplinary Tribunal of CAI earlier this year.
The tribunal found that Mr O’Connor acted in breach of the Institute’s Code of Ethics for Members (2014): Fundamental Principles: a. integrity, c. professional competence and due care, and e. professional behaviour.
The tribunal heard that Mr O’Connor had: issued 34 audit opinions in breach of a hot file review restriction imposed on his firm’s audit registration, and; had issued an audit opinion when he no longer held a practicing certificate and his firm no longer held audit registration.
The tribunal made an order that Mr O’Connor be excluded from membership of CAI and that he make a contribution of €7,572 towards the costs of CAI.
Both Mr O’Connor and Reddy O’Connor had been reprimanded in 2017 for issues relating to audit regulations. The company was prohibited from describing itself as ‘Chartered Accountants’ for five years and fined €4,500.
Mr O’Connor, who was found to have failed to provide information in relation to his cessation from practice, was excluded from membership of CAI and fined a total of €2,250. The accountant and company were ordered to jointly pay €11,010 towards the costs of CAI, an order which did not relate exclusively to the findings of that tribunal.
In 2016, CAI examined Mr O’Connor’s 2015 court convictions. This action, the tribunal said, made him liable to disciplinary action in accordance with the Institute’s Disciplinary Bye-Laws and Regulations.
On that occasion, he was severely reprimanded and fined €2,500 as well as being ordered to pay €10,172 towards the costs of the Chartered Accountants Regulatory Board (CARB).