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Institute bans disgraced fraudster

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4th Aug 2011
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The ICAEW has excluded convicted charity fraudster George Gray from its membership after he was sent down last year for stealing more than £250,000.

Appearing in the August ICAEW Disciplinary Orders and Regulatory Decisions, the tribunal of the Disciplinary Committee concluded that “This is, self-evidently, conduct which the ICAEW cannot tolerate from its members…exclusion is the only appropriate penalty for such serious professional misconduct.”

The tribunal made the decision to exclude the Cricklewood accountant after having heard a formal complaint on 7 June 2011.

The ex-finance director of the Foundation for Integrated Health was charged with two counts of theft, one count of fraud by false representation by abuse of position and one count of money laundering.

Gray appeared at Southwark Crown Court last August following an intelligence-led investigation by the Metropolitan Police Service's Fraud Squad in March. Police identified 35 transactions over the two-and-half years he worked for the charity.

He had debts of up to £850,000 and used his position as an FD to transfer funds from the charity's account directly to his own. Despite being on a salary of at least £80,000 Gray still could not cover his lifestyle costs and was struggling to pay the mortgage on his £700,000 house.

After pleading guilty he was jailed for three years.

Detective Constable Terry Lambert, from the Economic and Specialist Crime Command, said: "Gray abused his position of authority and took money that he knew he was not entitled to. The overwhelming evidence against him gave him no choice but to plead guilty,”

Passing sentence, Judge James Wadsworth QC said the theft had been "aggravated" by the fact the defendant had been in a position of trust. "As a chartered accountant, that should also have been a professional guarantee of honesty," he said.

The ICAEW found that the defendant was in a position of trust as an accountant when he seriously abused that position and committed fraud and theft.

It also said that it is not within the tribunal’s power to decide whether or not the defendant will ever be readmitted to membership of the ICAEW. It has recommended that no application for readmission be entertained for a period of five years.
 

Other disciplinary orders

  • Pritpal Channa - In the tribunal’s view, Channa was in breach of regulation 4 of the Practice Assurance. Regulations which provides as follows: ‘Members and member firms shall cooperate with the Institute, its staff and any committee carrying out functions under the PA scheme’. Channa was reprimanded, fined £2000 and ordered to pay costs of £2600 to the ICAEW.
  • Paul Daffurn - Daffurn failed to return to ICAEW an annual return as at 30 April 2009 for Daffurn & Co contrary to Regulation 8 of the Practice Assurance Regulations. He was severely reprimanded, fined £1,000 and ordered to pay costs of £500.
  • Steven Pearl - Pearl, on behalf of his firm Stephen Pearl & Co issued audit reports in respect of the financial statements when the firm was not a registered auditor. He was severely reprimanded, ordered to pay a fine of £10,000 and costs of £1,900.
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By [email protected]
10th Aug 2011 07:24

ALL FRAUDS TREATED SAME

I have been subjected for 3 and a half years of low wages, £1000 per year for 3000 hours work, and having to draw tax credits and council tax benefit and I ended up being struck off, paying fines, taking death threats, getting no help from the police and having to divert money from my ex director to pay for the clients he now has. I now face at least 18 months in jail and my assets(liabilities) confiscated. Makes you want to leave this country because it is all washed up.

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