Ex-Nanaimo chief financial officer loses CPA designation, must pay fine

A former City of Nanaimo director of financial services has had his certified public accountant designation pulled by the Alberta association that originally issued it.

Victor Mema, who previously served as Sechelt’s chief financial officer, was found guilty of “unprofessional conduct” for his actions while employed with Nanaimo and Sechelt by a discipline tribunal of the Chartered Public Accountants of Alberta.

The tribunal, which issued its order March 4, found Mema violated Alberta’s Chartered Professional Accountants Act and regulations, bylaws and rules of professional conduct for its members.

Along with loss of the professional designation, Mema was fined $30,000 and ordered to pay a portion of complaint review costs and investigation costs.

He must reimburse Sechelt for funds misappropriated in 2014 and 2015, and has been ordered to repay Nanaimo for $14,148.97 in unauthorized personal expenses that he incurred when employed there after he left the Sunshine Coast.

The disciplinary action by the Alberta group was launched in November 2019, and followed a process that included two appeals by Mema, who was employed by Sechelt from May 2012 until August 2015.

Mema joined Nanaimo in 2015 and was fired in 2018.

A statement from the Chartered Public Accountants of Alberta said Mema failed to carry out his duties as the head of Sechelt’s finance department with “integrity and due care.” That decision was issued in relation to Mema’s use of a local government corporate credit card for $7,743.29 in unauthorized personal expenses.

In addition, the ruling said he failed to submit reports on his corporate credit card use in a timely manner and that he failed to promptly reimburse those expenses when his employment with Sechelt ended in 2015.

In July 2023 a B.C. Supreme Court judge dismissed a wrongful dismissal case filed by Mema against Nanaimo.

The following month, a B.C. Human Rights tribunal supported a complaint by Mema that Nanaimo had discriminated against him. The tribunal awarded Mema $583,413 in compensation for lost wages and ordered the city to pay another $60,000.

The city has appealed the tribunal’s decision to the B.C. Supreme Court.

Mema did not respond to a request for comment on the Chartered Public Accountants of Alberta discipline tribunal decision.

— With Carla Wilson, Times Colonist