Accountant suspended for two years

Bryce Moffat told the <i>Northern Advocate</i> he had failed to distinguish between his personal and professional position. Photo / Thinkstock

A Whangarei chartered accountant who admitted charges of professional misconduct has been suspended for two years.

Bryce Moffat, of Spire chartered accountants, pleaded guilty before the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants' disciplinary tribunal to three charges - misconduct in a professional capacity, conduct unbecoming an accountant, and breaching the institute's code of ethics.

He prepared financial statements for a company between 2008 and 2012 which did not accurately include cash payments.

Mr Moffat also filed false or misleading income tax and GST returns during the same period, the institute's disciplinary tribunal decision says.

Mr Moffat was suspended for two years and ordered to pay the tribunal $32,482 to cover the cost of hearing and investigation by the institute's Professional Conduct Committee. Names of the companies Mr Moffat dealt with are suppressed.

A complaint had been made to the institute by a former business associate.

Mr Moffat had co-invested with the complainant in two companies and over the years, both took cash from one company without recording it as income from that business.

Both businesses were involved in a number of transactions in which Mr Moffat had a direct or indirect financial interest.

He told the tribunal his lapses occurred in a single set of circumstances where he failed to behave to his usual high standard.

Mr Moffat said he did not maliciously deceive anyone or act with the intention of securing gain for himself to the detriment of the complainant.

He submitted the appropriate penalty was censure.

However, the tribunal said in its decision that Mr Moffat's misconduct was on-going for a number of years and his conflict of interest related to a number of transactions over time, some of them substantial. Some of those transactions involved very substantial sums and many were not documented, the tribunal said.

Mr Moffat told the Northern Advocate he had failed to distinguish between his personal and professional position and, as a result, made an error of judgement.

With the exception of this complaint, Mr Moffat said he personally received no other formal complaint throughout his career as an accountant that began in 1996.

As a member of the Chartered Accountants of Australia and New Zealand (CAANZ), Spire was subjected to thorough reviews every three years.

"My own suspension from CAANZ in no way affects our ability to continue to provide the services we have promised to deliver to our clients, and as a continued member of CAANZ, our firm will operate with the same high service standards as we have done in the past," he said.