DISCIPLINARY COMMITTEE OF THE ASSOCIATION OF CHARTERED CERTIFIED ACCOUNTANTS REASONS FOR DECISION In the matter of: Mr Muhammad Rashid Ali Heard on: Friday, 12 January 2018 Location: The Adelphi, 1-11 John Adam Street, London WC2N 6AU Committee: Ms Helen Carter (Chairman), Mr Peter Douglas (Accountant) and Mr George Tranter (Lay) Legal Adviser: Ms Valerie Charbit Persons present and capacity: Ms Deborah Baljit (ACCA Case Presenter) Ms Poonam Patel (Hearings Officer) ACCA Observers: None Outcome: Allegation 1(a)(b)(i)(ii)(c) proved. Mr Ali is removed from the student register immediately. Mr Ali could not reapply for readmission for a period of 3 years. Any future application should be referred to the Admissions and Licensing Committee. Mr Ali pay ACCA in the sum of 6,954.32. 1
PRELIMINARY APPLICATIONS/SERVICE OF PAPERS 1. The Committee convened to consider one allegation of misconduct: Allegation 1 (a) On or around 24 August 2016 Muhammad Rashid Ali caused or permitted one or more of the documents set out in Schedule A to be submitted to The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants ( ACCA ) in support of his application as an ACCA student purporting to have been issued by the Institute of Cost Management Accountants of Pakistan when, in fact, they had not. (b) Muhammad Rashid Ali s conduct in respect of 1(a) was: (i) Dishonest; and (ii) Contrary to the Fundamental Principle of Integrity; (c) By reason of his conduct in respect of 1(a) and/or 1(b) above, Muhammad Rashid Ali is guilty of misconduct pursuant to bye-law 8(a) (i). 2. Schedule A comprised of two documents: i) Certificate of membership of the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Pakistan dated 12 June 2015 ii) Final examination certificate of the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Pakistan dated 7 November 2012. 3. The Committee had before it a bundle of papers numbering A-L and 1-174 and a service bundle numbering 1-19. 4. An application by ACCA to withdraw a second allegation had been allowed by the Chairman prior to the hearing. Separate reasons for that decision will be supplied. 2
PROCEEDING IN ABSENCE 5. The papers in this case were sent to Mr Ali s address registered with ACCA by registered post and by email on 12 December 2017, in accordance with Regulation 22 of the Chartered Certified Accountants Complaints and Disciplinary Regulations 2014 (CDR s). Regulation 22 states that the Notice served by post or email shall be deemed to be served after 72 hours (excluding Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays). 6. Regulation 10(1)(a) of the CDR s requires the papers to be served 28 days before the hearing. The Committee was satisfied that Notice of the Hearing and requisite papers had been served in accordance with Regulation 10(1)(a) by 15 December 2017 and that by today s date Mr Ali had had the required 28 days notice of the date of the hearing in accordance with Regulation 22. It was therefore satisfied that notice had been properly served in accordance with ACCA s rules. 7. Mr Ali had not responded to ACCA since he was served with notice of the Allegation and the hearing date and the bundle of papers. The hard copy letter and papers had been returned unopened to ACCA by the postal service. 8. Regulation 10(7) of the CDR s allows the Committee to proceed in Mr Ali s absence where it is satisfied that he has been properly served with the papers. 9. The Committee noted that Mr Ali was absent and had not provided any alternative postal or email address for his registration to those addresses which ACCA had sent the letter and documents to. 10. The Committee considered whether to proceed in Mr Ali s absence with utmost care and caution. Mr Ali had not communicated with ACCA at all about this matter. In making its decision as to whether to proceed in absence the Committee referred to the Guidance for Disciplinary Committee hearings, section 4 paragraphs 46-51. 3
11. The Committee decided that there was no benefit in adjourning proceedings because Mr Ali had failed to respond to the papers sent by post and email or attend his hearing in person or by telephone. The Committee therefore decided that Mr Ali had voluntarily absented himself by failing to communicate with ACCA and failing to attend the hearing. The Committee decided that it was in the public interest to proceed with the hearing in Mr Ali s absence without any further delay. BRIEF BACKGROUND 12. Mr. Ali applied to become a student of ACCA online on 24 August 2016. 13. Based upon certificates which Mr. Ali submitted which purported to have been awarded by the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Pakistan (ICMAP), Mr. Ali was admitted as a student and was awarded exemptions for ACCA examinations F1-F9. 14. On 31 August 2016 at 12:00pm, Mr. Ali contacted ACCA Connect via web chat using the email address shown on his registration form. The notes of the web chat record Student has the error where he appears to have been awarded exemptions as fees are on account as is an awarded qualification but they do not show on account. A further entry on 31 August 2016 at 12:02pm states invoiced and advised he was awarded exemptions but none added to account. SNT have advised this is a technical error and added exemptions. May need to be investigated.. 15. Upon receiving the certificates, ACCA Accreditations requested ACCA Pakistan to liaise with ICMAP to confirm whether the certificates were fraudulent. On 6 September 2016, ICMAP confirmed that the document are fake and found tempered (sic). 16. On 26 September 2016, ACCA sent a letter to Mr. Ali setting out a complaint. A response by 17 October 2016 was requested. No response was received. 17. A statement from Person B, the new Accreditations Manager at ACCA explains the process of how a student s certificates are passed to the 4
Accreditations Team for confirmation of their validity. Person B confirmed that the certificates of Mr Ali were referred to the Accreditations department by an Exemptions Specialist as, based upon the documentation, the Exemption Specialist could not determine the eligibility of the Mr Ali s exemptions. Person B confirmed that the documents were sent to the ICMAP, via ACCA Pakistan, who confirmed that the documents were found to be fraudulent. 18. On 4 October 2016, ACCA Exemptions confirmed that the documents submitted on 24 August 2016 by Mr Ali were received at the point of registration via our online registration facility. The documents submitted at the point of Registration were contained in the Committee s bundle. 19. The documents from ICMAP were provided to ACCA by Mr Ali in connection with his application to register as a student on the 24 August 2016 for registration number 3793496. Mr Ali uploaded those documents as part of the registration process. 20. On 11 January 2017, Person C, Director of Examinations of the ICMAP stated that he reviewed the documents submitted by Mr Ali and noted: I have checked our records and noted that there is no Mr. Ali registered against registration number 40063267 (mentioned in Final Examination Certificate). As per policy, the Institute issues a unique registration number to each student at the time of registration with ICMAP. In Mr. Ali s case, we found registration number had tempered in both documents in addition to placing his name, father s name in place the contents of actual student. In the certificate at Exhibit MAM/1 & MAM/2, the Registration number mentioned against the applicant is mismatched. Our Registration numbers are unique and there is no Mr. Ali registered against the registration number 40063267. Standard fonts deviation found. (sic) 21. Person C stated that When a certificate is issued by the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Pakistan, a MIS record is maintained. I 5
can confirm that I checked the record, and could not find details of the sent to me to review (sic) 22. Person C stated that after reviewing the certificates, I confirmed that these certificates were not issued by Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Pakistan. 23. Person D, a Connect Team Manager at ACCA Connect states that Customers can contact ACCA Connect through telephone calls, Emails to ACCA handled within 48 hours and Web chat which can be accessed through the ACCA website. All contacts are logged on customer accounts in our Customer Engagement Centre (CEC). Each customer has an individual account with ID and each contact is given an interaction number. Within Person D s statement, he explained the different routes through which Mr. Ali contacted ACCA. 24. Ms Baljit on behalf of ACCA submitted that the webchat suggested that Mr Ali had chased up the position regarding his exemptions having submitted the false certificates. Ms Baljit submitted this was further support for the fact that it was Mr Ali that had uploaded the false documents. 25. Person E, Student registration team manager at ACCA describes the process for ACCA student s initial registration and declaration which is completed online. Person E specifically deals with Mr. Ali s online application form and states that Mr Ali uploaded documents on 24 August 2016 at the point of applying online. Documents produced from the online record show that Mr Ali became a student on 24 August 2016. They further show that he would not have obtained this status unless he had agreed to a Declaration during the online application process which says: I have disclosed details of any past events referred to in ACCA Byelaw 8 and understand they will be taken into account in dealing with my application, but that they will not automatically stop me becoming an ACCA student. I declare that I have included anything ACCA needs to know, and I understand that any failure to disclose past events referred to in ACCA Byelaw 8 may render me liable to disciplinary action. I undertake that, if admitted, I will, so long as I remain a member of ACCA, comply with the byelaws and all other regulations of ACCA for the time being in force. I understand that the UK Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 does not 6
apply to the accountancy profession, and apply for registration to attempt the ACCA Qualification. I agree that while I am registered with ACCA I will tell you about any event which may engage ACCA Byelaw 8 and make me liable to disciplinary action. 26. Person F, an Exemption Specialist at ACCA confirmed that Mr Ali was granted Exemptions from ACCA papers F1-F9 on 24 August 2016 based upon ICMAP qualifications. Mr F provided a timeline of events relating to the ICMAP qualifications: Date: Events: 24/08/2016 Mr Ali registers with ACCA. Certificates from ICMAP provided to ACCA with initial registration. 29/08/2016 Mr Ali's ICMAP certificates provided to Exemptions Specialist. 30/08/2016 Mr Ali's ICMAP certificates escalated to the New Accreditations Team. 31/08/2016 Mr Ali's ICMAP Certificates referred to ACCA Pakistan 31/08/2016 Mr Ali's ICMAP certificates referred to ICMAP for verification. 06/09/16 ICMAP confirm certificates are false 19/09/16 Mr Ali referred to Investigations Department. 7
DECISION ON FACTS/ALLEGATION AND REASONS 27. The Committee was satisfied on the basis of the evidence contained in various witness statements summarised above, in particular the statement of Person C and on the basis of documents produced within its bundle, that Mr Ali had submitted to ACCA as part of his student registration, the documents set out at schedule A. It was further satisfied that the documents were false. Accordingly, it found Allegation 1(a) proved. 28. The Committee accepted the submission by Ms Baljit that Mr Ali had in a webchat contacted ACCA to ensure the documents allowed him exemptions. 29. The Committee was satisfied that Mr Ali must have known the documents were false and he submitted them to ACCA as part of his student registration process and in order to exempt himself from other examinations which he would otherwise have been required to take. Accordingly, the Committee found Mr Ali to have acted dishonestly and it found Allegation 1(b)(i) proved. 30. The Committee further found that Mr Ali had breached the fundamental principle of integrity by submitting false documents to ACCA as part of his registration process because he had not been honest, straightforward or truthful. 31. In the Committee s judgement the behaviour of Mr Ali in submitting false documents to his regulator fell seriously below the standards expected of a Student Member of ACCA and amounted to misconduct. Accordingly, the Committee found Allegation 1(c) proved. SANCTION AND REASONS 32. The Committee noted that its principal purpose when sanctioning Mr Ali was to protect the public interest, maintain public confidence in the profession and in ACCA and declaring and upholding proper standards of conduct and performance. The Committee noted the need to act proportionately when determining what sanction to impose and to balance the public interest, the 8
interests of ACCA membership, the interests of Mr Ali, the seriousness of the case and the mitigating and aggravating factors in the case. The Committee referred to the Guidance on Disciplinary Sanctions updated 1 January 2018. It noted that section E2 dealt specifically with Dishonesty and stated 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. 33. The Committee noted that the standards expected of a professional accountant would also apply to a student member who had also signed a declaration agreeing to abide by ACCAs rules and ethics as part of the registration process. 34. The Committee decided that that the Allegation had been aggravated by the deliberate nature of the dishonesty and by the lack of any insight evidenced by Mr Ali. 35. The Committee took into account that Mr Ali had no previous disciplinary findings against him. 36. The Committee first considered taking no further action, an admonishment and a reprimand but concluded that these sanctions would be insufficient in light of the seriousness of the dishonest conduct in that Mr Ali had tried to deceive his regulator. 37. The Committee considered a severe reprimand and concluded that this was an inappropriate sanction because there were no particular circumstances in the case or mitigation advanced which could satisfy the Committee that there was no continuing risk to the public. Furthermore, the Committee did not consider that such an order would maintain public confidence in the profession and ACCA as a regulator, nor would it declare and uphold proper standards of conduct and performance. 9
38. The Committee concluded that removal from the student register was the appropriate and proportionate sanction in all the circumstances. Mr Ali had deliberately sought to deceive his regulator and his behaviour undermined confidence in the profession and in ACCA. 39. Accordingly, the Committee ordered that Mr Ali be removed from the student register in accordance with CDR Regulation 12(4)(c). 40. The Committee further ordered that no application for readmission may be considered until a minimum period of 3 years has elapsed because of the serious and deliberate nature of Mr Ali s misconduct in attempting to deceive his regulator. The Committee further decided that any future application should be referred to an Admissions and Licensing Committee in accordance with Regulation 13(11) and 13(12). COSTS 41. The Committee received further papers numbering 175-180 detailing ACCA s costs. ACCA applied for costs in the sum of 6,954.32. Ms Baljit explained that the costs excluded any costs incurred with the application for the withdrawal of Allegation 2. 42. Mr Ali had been sent paperwork regarding the power of this Committee to make an order for costs and inviting him to inform the Committee about his means. No response had been received by Mr Ali. 43. Accordingly, the Committee made an order for costs in the sum of 6954.32. EFFECTIVE DATE OF ORDER 44. Ms Baljit submitted that the order should be effective immediately in order to protect the reputation of ACCA and maintain and uphold proper standards. She accepted that as a student member Mr Ali posed no risk to the public. 45. The Committee decided that the effective date of the order would be immediate since potential employers could in this case be deceived by Mr Ali if he continued to be a student. 10
Ms Helen Carter Chairman 12 January 2018 11