iscoverA Queensland-based accountant has been charged with lodging false documents with ASIC.
Accountant faces court over lodging false documents
22 September 2014
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6 minute read
Paul Anthony Scott, of Southport in south east Queensland, appeared in the Southport Magistrates Court last week charged with one count of lodging false documents with ASIC.
He was also charged with one count of obstructing ASIC in doing its job.
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The offences are alleged to have occurred between 1 July 2010 and 30 March 2013.
Mr Scott was not required to enter a plea and was bailed. The case will now be heard in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on 21 November 2014.
The matter is being prosecuted by the Commonwealth director of public prosecutions. ASIC declined to comment while the matter is ongoing.
This case comes after a Melbourne-based accountant was jailed for five years, eight months in August on charges brought by ASIC relating to “illegal investment schemes”.
At the time ASIC chairman Greg Medcraft said that Mark Ronald Letten had “acted in complete disregard for the law and with little concern for the interests of the investors” and that “jailing should send a strong message to company directors and scheme operators about the serious consequences of operating property investment schemes outside the legal requirements”.
In June ASIC accepted an enforceable undertaking from the former Banksia lead auditor Warren John Sinnott, suspending him until 2019.
Discussing Mr Sinnott’s case, ASIC commissioner John Price said it is vital for the regulator to ensure professional standards in auditing to maintain confidence in financial markets.
"Auditors are important gatekeepers who are relied upon to provide assurance and market confidence in the quality of financial reports. Auditors who fail to adequately perform their duties will be held to account,” he said.
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