BC - “Fraudulent accountant kicked out”
ED - Another example of white collar crime associated with gambling problems.
Susan Lazaruk, The Province, Sunday, June 03, 2007
An accountant who admitted to defrauding the B.C. Nurses Union of almost $700,000 over six years has been expelled from the Certified Management Accountants Society.
Maureen Jean MacLean officially lost her right to practise as a CMA on May 15 after admitting the fraud before a hearing by the society’s professional-conduct-code committee.
MacLean was identified for the first time after the society ran public notices announcing the expulsion in newspapers on Friday.
“If we expel someone because of misconduct, we have to run a public notice,” said society spokesman Rick Lightheart.
Union president Debra McPherson, who didn’t respond to a request for comment, has said the union’s former finance director, at the time unnamed, had a gambling problem.
The union has recovered $503,000 from MacLean, who stole the money from 2000 to 2006, after she agreed to liquidate a home, recreational property, vehicle, RRSPs and Canada Savings Bonds that belonged to her and her spouse to pay the union back.
The union said earlier this year it is trying to recoup money from the unnamed firm that audited the union’s books without noting any improprieties.
MacLean became a CMA in 1999 and was fired last June after working for the union for 15 years.
The union said at the time of the firing that its priority was recovery of its members’ money and concluded that a negotiated settlement would be more successful than pursuing criminal prosecution.
slazaruk@png.canwest.com
© The Vancouver Province 2007
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