ICAI fines Kerry accountant for not fulfilling duties

A Kerry accountant found guilty of failing to fulfil his legal obligations as a company director has been reprimanded and fined €12,000.

Mr Raymond Kelliher was censured by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland (ICAI) after it received a number of complaints against him.

However, the ICAI stopped short of suspending him or stripping him of his licence to practise.

Mr Kelliher was held to have failed in his duties as director of KG Giftwear by failing to ensure it fulfilled its statutory duty to file returns to the register of companies, hold annual general meetings and lay audited financial statements before the company in general meeting. He was also judged to have not responded adequately to correspondence from the secretariat of the ICAI.

At the time of the hearing in March, Mr Kelliher told the tribunal he had tendered his resignation to KG Giftwear in September 1994 but that it had not filed his resignation and that he was unaware of this. When he became active in the company again in 1997, Mr Kelliher said he understood he was no longer a director at that time.

But tribunal chairman Mr Brian Garrett said it believed he did remain a director and his resignation, if tendered, had not been accepted. The tribunal imposed a severe reprimand on Mr Kelliher - one of the most serious punishments it can levy short of suspension.

Mr Kelliher originally lodged an appeal but withdrew it late last month. He has not practised as a chartered accountant for a number of years, the ICAI said.

The institute's guidelines prohibit it from making public its decision until the appeals process is closed. The ICAI receives an average of 100 complaints a year against members. Two-thirds are generally dismissed after an investigation.