At a Disciplinary Tribunal of Chartered Accountants Ireland ('the Institute') on 2 December 2019, a member, Mr Sean FitzPatrick, accepted the facts of a formal complaint brought against him by the Institute's Conduct Committee following the opinion certified by the Special Investigator, Mr John Purcell, that:
"the concealment of loans over a period of time by their temporary transfer and related actions constituted misconduct of a serious nature likely to bring discredit to himself and/or Chartered Accountants Ireland, and/or the profession. The fact that Mr FitzPatrick was Chief Executive or Chairman of the Bank over the period of concealment adds to the gravity of this misconduct."
In light of the above, Mr FitzPatrick accepted that the appropriate sanction to meet the gravity of this conduct was exclusion from membership of the Institute and he consented to this. Mr FitzPatrick has further undertaken not to make any future application reinstatement .
In the circumstances the Disciplinary Tribunal made an Order excluding Mr FitzPatrick from Membership of Chartered Accountants Ireland.
The Tribunal also imposed a fine of €25,000.
Given Mr Fitzpatrick's acceptance of the above matters, the Conduct Committee did not offer evidence in respect of certain other allegations set out in the Formal Complaints against Mr FitzPatrick.
Reference: Karen Jones, Gibney Communications
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