The accountancy watchdog has refused to explain why it has not suspended the warrants of Nexia BT partners Brian Tonna and Karl Cini, who are facing money-laundering and fraud charges.
Tonna and Cini were hit with a temporary suspension of their warrants by the Accountancy Board in September 2020, but the decision was reversed the following month.
The operations of Nexia BT advisory services and BTI management were also temporarily suspended after a freezing order was issued following the conclusion of an inquiry into kickbacks on passport states involving former OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri.
However, just a few weeks after the Accountancy Board announced the temporary suspension, it reversed the decision, allowing Tonna, Cini and Nexia BT to continue working on assignments taken on prior to the September 25 suspension order.
Further to that, the regulator also allowed them to take on new work, provided it was subject to “ongoing monitoring” by the board.
One of the justifications used to explain the reversal was that the board was not aware of any charges or arraignments to date notwithstanding ongoing investigations.
That justification is no longer valid, as Nexia BT’s partners were all charged in court during high-profile arraignments of 11 individuals linked to a money-laundering and corruption ring last month.
Replying to questions by Times of Malta, the board refused to explain why it had not put these suspensions back in place.
It is disappointing that the institute’s recommendations have not yet been adopted
“When the board has any public announcements to make, it will do so through the appropriate means and channels,” board secretary Martin Spiteri said.
Times of Malta reported last week how Malta Institute of Accountants president Fabio Axisa claimed in a letter sent out to members that the Accountancy Board ignored proposals to enhance the regulatory framework of the accountancy profession.
“It is disappointing that our recommendations have not yet been adopted and implemented – notwithstanding any other priorities, which are perhaps understandable, elevating our profession’s regulatory infrastructure is extremely important too,” he said.
The proposals included changes to the Accountancy Profession Act that would empower the Accountancy Board to take action in cases of alleged misbehaviour by warrant holders in a more flexible manner.
Other amendments seek to define the borders of the profession so that only professional accountants are authorised to perform certain services.
The board has been accused of dragging its feet ever since Nexia BT found itself at the centre of the 2016 Panama Papers scandal.
Accountancy Board chairman Peter Baldacchino was roundly criticised by the board conducting an inquiry into state failures leading up to journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assassination.
Judges Michael Mallia, Joseph Said Pullicino and Abigail Lofaro all asked Baldacchino questions about the board’s hands-off approach.
“It seems you were looking for an excuse to do nothing,” Judge Mallia remarked at one point.
“If a civil servant steals €10 he is suspended. So what about an accountant facing such allegations?” asked judge Said Pullicino.
Baldacchino told the inquiry that the board was acting on legal advice to proceed with caution pending the conclusion of magisterial inquiries into the wrongdoing.