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Worthington Nicholls FD gets six-year ban

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16th May 2012
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The former financial director of air conditioning installer Worthington Nicholls has been banned from practicing as a chartered accountant for six years after he was found by the AADB to have produced materially false and misleading financial statements.

The FT reports that Timothy Hunt, a member of the ICAEW, presented misleading interim accounts in June 2007 by including £770,000 of turnover for which he had no evidence.

He also failed to stop misleading information being sent out to the market in a regulatory statement ahead of the company's share placement in May 2007.

The tribunal argued that Hunt was in a “unique position” as the sole qualified accountant on the board and should have realised the company's financial position.

Tom Martin, executive counsel at AADB, told the FT: “The sanction reflects the gravity of the misconduct and Mr Hunt’s refusal to accept responsibility for his actions for the last three years.” Richard Jones QC, who chaired the tribunal, also said that Hunt “fell short of the standards expected of a professional accountant”.

An independent disciplinary tribunal will be appointed to hear the formal complaint and the investigation in relation to the conduct of the auditors, Haines Watts, is also continuing.

The ban is the second longest imposed by the AADB and the hearing took place on 14 May at the International Dispute Resolution Centre.

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