IAI to punish bad accountants

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.