IAI to punish bad accountants

A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The newly elected chairman of the Indonesian Accounting Association (IAI) Ahmadi Hadibroto says it will act against crooked accountants in a bid to help improve public confidence in the profession.

Ahmadi was elected during the three-day IAI congress, which concluded here on Friday. He replaces Zainal Soedjais.

He said it would not be hesitant to freeze the licenses of bad accountants.

He pointed out as an example that IAI had temporarily terminated the licenses of two accountants for their roles in financial fraud cases.

"The profession of accountants has been in the spotlight after the Enron and WorldCom scandals," Ahmadi told reporters.

The statement comes in the wake of mounting public criticism of the association, which has been accused by many of protecting fraudulent members.

Sanctions against crooked accountants are rare, despite the fact that accounting scams are rampant in the country.

Just 10 public accountants, for example, have been found guilty of fraud during the auditing of 37 banks which collapsed during the financial crisis.

But the IAI only sanctioned three accounting firms, and let seven others walked free.

Ahmadi said the new IAI board of executives would impose stern measures against criminal accountants.

"It is not the IAI's function to protect its members. Those who commit fraud will be prosecuted, while the honest ones will be protected," he said.

Ahmadi said it was also preparing a new code of ethics for its members as part of the confidence building program.

IAI, which has 6,000 members nationwide, is the sole organization overseeing accountants in the country.