DISCIPLINARY COMMITTEE OF THE ASSOCIATION OF CHARTERED CERTIFIED ACCOUNTANTS

Transcription

1 DISCIPLINARY COMMITTEE OF THE ASSOCIATION OF CHARTERED CERTIFIED ACCOUNTANTS REASONS FOR DECISION In the matter of: Miss Darshna Dhanani Heard on: Friday August Location: Committee: ACCA s Offices, The Adelphi, 1-11 John Adam Street, London, WC2N 6AU Mr James Kellock (Chairman), Ms Ruby Sukkersudha (Accountant) Ms Margaret Coats (Lay) Legal Adviser: Mr Richard Ferry-Swainson Persons present and capacity: Mr Paul Renteurs (ACCA Case Presenter) Ms Rachael Davies (Hearings Officer) Mr Tim Naylor (Case Presenter on behalf of Student) Miss Darshna Dhanani (Student) Observers: Mrs Saira Ali (Case Progression Officer) PRELIMINARY APPLICATIONS/SERVICE OF PAPERS 1. The Disciplinary Committee ( the Committee ) convened to consider one Allegation against Miss Dhanani, who attended and was represented by Mr Tim Naylor. 2. The papers before the Committee were in bundles numbered 1 to 23, 24 to 45 and 46 to 78, together with a service bundle numbered 1 to 34. ALLEGATIONS/BRIEF BACKGROUND 3. It is alleged that Miss Dhanani is liable to disciplinary action on the basis of the following Allegation:

2 Allegation 1 (a) Pursuant to bye-law 8(a)(i) Miss Darshna Dhanani is guilty of misconduct by reason of submitting a certificate to Company 1 on 4 February 2016, which purported to show the she is a member of ACCA when, in fact, she is not. (b) Miss Dhanani s conduct as set out in Allegation 1(a) was (i) Dishonest (ii) Contrary to the Fundamental Principle of Integrity (as applicable in 2016) 4. Miss Dhanani was registered as a student of ACCA on 30 July Her history as a student shows that she has passed 12 exams, seven by way of exemption, following 16 failed attempts between 2007 and She has yet to pass papers P5 and P6. Accordingly, Miss Dhanani remains registered as a student of ACCA, but is not a member of ACCA. 5. On 4 February 2016, Miss Dhanani sent an to Ms 1, an Associate Consultant at Company 1, enclosing a certificate which purported to show that she was admitted as a member of ACCA on 15 February The same day Mr 2, a Manager at Company 1, telephoned Ms 3, an Adviser at ACCA in relation to Miss Dhanani about the certificate which he thought did not look quite right and he wanted to check Miss Dhanani s status with ACCA. Ms 3 did a data search using the details provided on the certificate and found that Miss Dhanani is not a member of ACCA, but is a student of ACCA. 6. On 11 February 2016 Mr 4, a Senior Investigations Officer at ACCA, wrote to Miss Dhanani, posing various questions about the certificate and her status. 7. In an dated 13 February 2016, Miss Dhanani responded to the questions as follows:

3 (i) Do you recognise the attached certificate which bears your name and states that you were admitted a member of ACCA on 15 February 2011? Yes I do recognise the attached certificate. (ii) Did you submit the attached certificate to Company 1? If so, who did you submit it to, how did you submit it and when did you submit it? I sent it to [Ms 1] on Thursday 04 February at 12.14pm via from [her address]. (iii) Have you submitted the attached certificate to any other persons or organisations? If so, please provide me with contact details of those persons or organisations. No, I have not submitted the certificate to any other persons or organisations. (iv) Did you inform Company 1 that you are a member of ACCA? Yes, I did inform Company 1 that I was a member of the ACCA. (v) Do you accept that you are not a member of ACCA? I do accept that I am a student of the ACCA and not a member of the ACCA. (vi) What work are you currently undertaking? I was working as a Year-End Accountant from 23 January 2016 to 12 February This was a 3 week contract that [Ms 1] assigned me to. I had knowledge of this work and its requirements from my previous job. (vii) What work have you undertaken in the past? My past role was as an Accountant/Property Accountant, where I was responsible for the preparation and submission of accurate management accounts (monthly, half-yearly and year end), Financial statements at the year end, VAT returns, adn [sic] assisting purchasers with the understanding of the transactions in the financial statements. I had been in my last role for over 9 years, and my manager would ensure the accounts were accurate before signing of the accounts either for submission or filling. (viii) What is your current ACCA registered Address? Address supplied.

4 (ix) Do you have any other comments you wish to make in relation to this complaint? I would like to apologise for this. I know it was wrong of me to submit this certificate, and I should not have done this. I have destroyed the certificate with immediate effect. The reason I had submitted this was because I had been made redundant from my last job, due to the company winding-up and I found it was difficult to get a similar or better job. I will never do this again. I do hope to complete my final two papers of the ACCA in 2016/17. Please accept my apologies, and note that I will not do this again. I hope this is now resolved? 8. Mr Naylor, on behalf of Miss Dhanani, indicated that she admitted the Allegation in its entirety in accordance with the indication given in the Case Management Form dated 8 June DECISION ON FACTS/ALLEGATIONS AND REASONS 9. The Committee considered carefully all the evidence together with the submissions made by Mr Renteurs and Mr Naylor. The Committee accepted the advice of the Legal Adviser. 10. Miss Dhanani admitted that she had forged the certificate and sent it to Company 1, to give her a better chance to obtain employment at a certain level. She also admitted that such conduct was dishonest, contrary to the Fundamental Principle of Integrity and amounted to misconduct. 11. Although Miss Dhanani admitted her behaviour amounted to misconduct, this remained a matter to be decided by the Committee. 12. The Committee considered that acting dishonesty by forging a certificate and lying about being a member of ACCA clearly brought discredit on Miss Dhanani, the Association and the accountancy profession as a whole, and was an act which fell seriously short of what is to be expected of student members. The Committee was in no doubt that it amounted to misconduct and would be considered deplorable by fellow members of the profession.

5 13. On the basis of Miss Dhanani s admissions, the evidence before it, and the Committee s decision on misconduct, the Committee found Allegations 1(a) and (b)(i) and (ii) proved in their entirety. SANCTION AND REASONS 14. In reaching its decision on sanction, the Committee took into account the evidence given by Miss Dhanani and the submissions made by Mr Naylor and Mr Renteurs, together with all matters of personal mitigation. The Committee also referred to the Guidance for Disciplinary Sanctions issued by ACCA. The Committee had in mind the fact that the purpose of sanctions was not to punish Miss Dhanani, but to protect the public, maintain public confidence in the profession and maintain proper standards of conduct, and that any sanction must be proportionate. The Committee accepted the advice of the Legal Adviser. 15. The Committee was provided with a statement by Miss Dhanani in which she stated she had completed her accountancy and finance degree in She then worked for a time as a Payroll Clerk, but left because she wanted to move into accountancy. She worked for four months as an Accounts Assistant and then began her studies with ACCA. In 2006 she began work with an employer as an Accounts Assistant and then from 2009 as an accountant until made redundant in It was after that that she was employed on a three week placement arranged by Company 1 and it was during the second week of that placement that she sent in the forged certificate. 16. Miss Dhanani stated that at the time of taking the job through Company 1 she was unaware that the role was for a fully qualified accountant. She only became aware when Company 1 told her that they required a certificate from her for the role. She said that she was desperate to keep the role having been out of work for several months due to the redundancy. She therefore forged the certificate, which informed them that she was a member of ACCA when in fact she was a student. She stated, I admit that it was fully wrong of me to forge and send this certificate. I admit that my actions were wrong and I regret sending it. In hindsight I would not have done this however at the time I was desperate for employment and was struggling to

6 deal with a medical condition. Miss Dhanani went on to provide details of the medical condition she referred to and which she felt contributed to her actions in forging the certificate. The Committee took this into account when reaching its decision. 17. Miss Dhanani said that she had been completely honest with ACCA from the moment they contacted her and had apologised for her actions. She also said that she had reflected on her misconduct and that she understood the importance of honesty and integrity and how acts of dishonesty impact upon the reputation of the accountancy profession as a whole. She hoped that she would be able to continue within the profession and compete the final two ACCA papers. 18. Miss Dhanani stated that she is currently employed as a Financial Accountant with a company and that she made them aware that she is not fully qualified. 19. When questioned by the Committee, Miss Dhanani said that her last day at work was in December 2015 and she started her new job in January 2016, but had been looking for a job since being notified in September 2015 that she was to be made redundant. She said that whilst unemployed for that month she was not under any financial pressure but was under personal pressure. 20. The Committee was also provided with three character references for Miss Dhanani. One from her GP, one from her mother and one from her sister. They speak of the pressures she was under at the time and how out of character her behaviour was. They make reference to the fact that she had been made redundant, she was under a lot of pressure from Company 1 to provide documentation and they make reference to a health matter. The Committee took all this into account, including the additional medical evidence provided, when reaching its decision on the appropriate and proportionate sanction. However, the Committee did not consider the references to be particularly relevant in the circumstances of this case because they were not from persons who know her in a professional capacity.

7 21. When deciding on the appropriate sanction, the Committee carefully considered the aggravating and mitigating features in this case. 22. The Committee considered the following to be the primary mitigating factors: the lack of previous disciplinary matters; early admissions to having supplied the certificate when challenged about its authenticity. There were other mitigating factors that the Committee considered carried some, but less weight, namely: the pressures of redundancy and her health condition; cooperation with ACCA s investigation; some insight; apologies and remorse. 23. The Committee considered the following aggravating features: the forging of an ACCA member s certificate; the element of planning and sophistication involved in producing such a forgery. 24. The Committee considered all the options available from the least serious upwards and concluded that the only appropriate and proportionate sanction was removal from the student register. Forging a certificate and lying about one s membership of ACCA in order to retain employment at a certain level, thereby purporting to be of a standard of competency upon which the public would rely, is very serious and fundamentally incompatible with being a student of ACCA. The Committee acknowledged the impact this decision would have on Miss Dhanani and thought it was regrettable that she had decided to behave in such an unconscionable way after having successfully passed so many ACCA exams. However, such conduct was such a serious breach of bye-law 8 that no other sanction would adequately reflect the gravity of her offending behaviour. Honesty and integrity go to the heart of the profession. 25. The Committee noted the guidance for disciplinary sanctions with states, The public is entitled to expect a high degree of probity from a professional who has undertaken to abide by a code of ethics. The reputation of ACCA and the accountancy profession is built upon the public being able to rely on a member to do the right thing in difficult circumstances. It is a cornerstone of the public value which an accountant brings. The Committee should bear these factors in mind when considering whether any mitigation presented by the member or student member, is so remarkable or exceptional that it

8 warrants anything other than exclusion from membership or removal from the student register. The Committee did not consider the mitigation in this case to be so remarkable that it amounted to exceptional circumstances that would allow it to consider a lesser sanction. Many people face difficult circumstances and pressures at work and in their personal lives, but they do not resort to dishonest behaviour. In this instance Miss Dhanani did not do the right thing in difficult circumstances. 26. Furthermore, the Committee considered that a failure to remove a student from the register who had acted dishonestly by forging an ACCA membership certificate, and thereafter used it to seek to retain her position at work, would seriously undermine public confidence in the profession and in ACCA as its regulator. In order to maintain public confidence and uphold proper standards in the profession it was necessary to send out a clear message that this sort of behaviour would not be tolerated. COSTS AND REASONS 27. ACCA applied for costs in the sum of 9, The Committee was provided with a detailed schedule of costs and considered that sum, although high, to be reasonable in all the circumstances. Mr Naylor said that Miss Dhanani had cooperated with ACCA throughout and made admissions from the start. He said she earned 2800 net a month and had no outgoings. She had modest savings of about 500. However, her work was temporary and only until November In light of her level of income, the fact that her work is temporary and that her job prospects may have been diminished as a consequence of this Committee s decision to remove her from the student register, the Committee decided to reduce the amount requested to a level that Miss Dhanani could realistically be expected to pay. Accordingly the Committee decided to make an order in the sum of EFFECTIVE DATE OF ORDER 28. The Committee was informed that there was currently an Interim Suspension Order in place. The Committee therefore revoked that order.

9 This order will have effect at the expiry of the appeal period, or at the conclusion of any appeal if one is made. Mr James Kellock Chairman 12 August 2016