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Glad to see that even a CGA ADMITS THAT UNQUALIFIED BOOKKEEPERS WERE
GIVEN THE CGA DESIGNATION - WITHOUT HAVING TO TAKE ANY UPGRADING COURSES OR EXAMS!! They are still CGAs in BC and Alberta, and those responsible in the CGA organisation, instead of censure, received plaudits instead - WF Mearns got his FCGA for bringing the hundreds of unqualifieds!! The national association did absolutely nothing when the provincial groups brought in all the unqualified people, because the national body also profited financially from all these extra bodies!! In western Canada, and presumably in Ontario also, are many UNQUALIFIED BOOKKEEPERS, who have no formal education, but are still legally CGAs, working in the same union so to speak, as those CAs and CGAs who had to have formal training, after a university degree. To suggest that one is known by the company one keeps IS NOT SLANDEROUS as you claim. It is your CGA association that allowed this to happen. It is your CGA group that honoured the criminal William F.Mearns, and then had to withdraw his credentials when he went to prison!! Quite apart from several other prominent thefts by senior CGAs reported in BC!! I will dig into the morgue at the Vancouver papers, who carried many of these news stories,such as the newsnet article following: Jan 9 1997, 2:00 am Newsgroups: soc.culture.china, soc.culture.taiwan, soc.culture.hongkong, hk.general, hk.super.net From: WAHRHEIT - Find messages by this author Date: 1997/01/09 Subject: CANADIAN ACCOUNTING PAST PRESIDENT(CGA)=GETS 3 1/2 YEARS PRISON!!! PAST PRESIDENT CGA - CRIMINAL TRIAL - GETS 3 1/2 YEARS IN PRISON!!!! ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ WARNING RE CGA CANADA OF CONCERN TO ACCOUNTING STUDENTS, ACCOUNTANTS AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC CGA'S IN CANADA - WHAT'S WRONG WITH THEM? Further to previous news reports,the Past President of CGA Alberta, William L. Mearns, 52, has finally been sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison on his conviction for embezzling more than C$1.3 million from the County of Red Deer,Alberta. Over the past year, national media have been filling the news with stories of major scandals involving prominent CERTIFIED GENERAL ACCOUNTANTS (CGA's) in Canada. In Alberta, the media have had a field day for the past year, reporting on the fact that a PAST PRESIDENT OF CGA ALBERTA, and FCGA and CGA, was under criminal investigation, was charged with 14 serious criminal charges, and has now been sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison. The complaints against Mearns were originally filed by the Hongkong Bank to the RCMP Commercial Crime Division. The HK Bank were complaining about William L. Mearns, who had been for 12 years the Controller/Treasurer of the County of Red deer, Alberta. MEARNS WAS CHARGED WITH 14 SERIOUS CRIMINAL CHARGES, as reported by CFRN-TV, the Edmonton Sun, and Red Deer Advocate. Among the charges are 5 charges of uttering forged documents, another 5 charges of making a false document, 2 more charges of forgery, one more charge of fraud, and one of theft over $5,000.00 MORE THAN 1.3 MILLION DOLLARS was documented in Court as embezzled by Mearns. Following a third adjournment requested by Mearns, on 4th October 1996, Mearns was convicted, and sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison. The Special Crown Prosecutor stated " the motive in this case is very obvious. The motive in everything I've seen is greed." "He was in a position of public trust. In essence, he stole the money from each and every ratepayer in this county." At the end of 1995, without any advice to the general public or EVEN TO MEMBERS OF CGA ALBERTA, MEARNS WAS ALLOWED TO SECRETLY RESIGN BOTH HIS CGA AND FCGA DESIGNATIONS. This seems to be a first for Canada, where an FCGA surrenders what was supposed to be a prestigious designation. In the past year Mearns and one of his businesses have both gone bankrupt. Mind you, Mearns got his FCGA in connection with his work in 1987-1988, where he was involved with the ADMISSION TO CGA ALBERTA OF UNQUALIFIED BOOKKEEPERS, WHO WERE GIVEN THE CGA DESIGNATION, WITHOUT ANY REQUIREMENT FOR EDUCATION, QUALIFICATIONS, AND NO EXAMS, or even a requirement for upgrading courses to bring them up to an acceptable standard. CGA Alberta of course benefitted financially, from the huge increase in dues and fees from these new unqualified members. ^^^^^^^^^^^ The Vancouver Sun and other national media carried banner headlines regarding ROMAN EVANCIC, another FCGA, who had got himself SHOT!!! This was apparently in connection with some business partner and a collections problem. The news reported that the assailant said, as he shot Evancic: "I'm from your stock brokers. I understand you ripped him off." (Vancouver Sun - 11 January 1996) And don't forget the scandal exposed on national TV of the Surrey, BC CGA convicted of embezzling millions of dollars from fellow parishioners of his church. And now the media in Ontario are reporting regarding more scandals involving senior members of CGA Ontario!!! Will the bad news never stop? Are these published reports, as well as others, part of the reason that the Maritime Provinces have successfully maintained that CGA's in those provinces ARE NOT QUALIFIED to perform public audits? Could it have something to do with the fact that an unqualified CGA from Alberta could move to the Maritimes, and even though unqualified, could still call himself a CGA there? As a result of the extensive bad publicity regarding problem CGA's in Canada, CGA Canada is now desperately trying to recruit new members from the ignorant in CHINA, S.E.Asia and the Caribbean. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Students of accounting in CHINA, S.E.Asia and the Caribbean, who must pay many tens of thousands of dollars to obtain your designation, how do YOU feel about these "gwaliau" whoi got the CGA for FREE? Those of you concerned about credibility in the accounting profession are invited to respond. On Fri, 16 Sep 2005 16:56:49 -0400, RsH wrote: As a CGA I rather resent this garbage. A CGA who has been properly educated has spent at least 4 years getting the designation, passing exams, and working in the field in something definitely related to accounting. Otherwise they are NOT qualified and are NOT given the designation. I can only, of course, speak for Ontario, where I earned the designation in the 1970s. Yes, there may be a FEW who did not get their degrees properly in Alberta, and who have not been thrown out of the CGAs by the national association. If so, that is indeed unfortunate, but to suggest that ALL CGAs are cast in the same pot is indeed slanderous, and if you would care to give me full details as to your name, address, and YOUR qualifications to make that statement, I will be glad to pass this entire chain of correspondence on to CGA Canada, whose lawyers will be glad to sue you for the slanderous statements you are making. RsH On Fri, 16 Sep 2005 19:18:25 GMT, JamesD wrote: Al Dente refuses to comment on the FACTS presented, regarding problems with crooked, and unqualified CGA's. Instead, he complains about crooked CA's - which seems to indicate he believes that CA stands for CROOKED ACCOUNTANT? Does this mean CGA stands for CROOKED GARBAGE ACCOUNTANT? Ask victims of the unqualified bookkeepers who got their CGA in BC and Alberta, how they felt when the tax department re-assessed, due to criminal incompetency of their CGA bookkeepers!! On Fri, 16 Sep 2005 14:53:21 -0400, Al Dente wrote: Yes, CGAs are qualified accountants, with standards of education at least equal to CA's and superior in continuing education. Obviously there have been bad apples; there are certainly many CA's like that (and doctores, lawyers, etc.). (In all the corporate scandals, bad audits were all signed by CAs in Canada or their partners, CPA's in the US.) It's well known that you can buy a CA's signature on an audit report for $50. My wife did that once. The CA was an old co-worker who had been retired for years and had never done any audit work since graduation - yet the CA association deemed him qualified. When my wife sold her practice last year, no less than five CA's she'd never met offered to buy it sight unseen on a dollar for dollar basis. CA's in Ontario took the stance that all CA's in good standing are always automatically qualified to sign audits and no one else ever is, in any circumstances, and even urged all their members to apply for public accounting licences before the recent rules changes. This absurd extremist view cost them all credibility. Unfortunately there are still wackos like JamesD around trying to smear a lot of very qualified hard working people in order to try to protect what's left of their monopoly. JamesD wrote: Al Dente refers to the CGA association, as though it is comprised of QUALIFIED accountants! In Alberta the local CGA association incorporated UNQUALIFIED perons, without rquiring any upgrading or training classes. This was done under the aegis of now-disgraced CGA,and ex-FCGA, William Mearns, the one who went to prison for embezzling $1,400,000 while treasurer of the County of Red Deer Alberta!! In BC, it was similar, with CGA BC accepting unqualified bookkeepers, again without any upgrading required. In other words, CGA in Canada has no validity as far as true qualifications, and certainly none for integrity. It seems that the CGA's only wanted more members, so that their executives could have more money to blow on their expenses.... On Thu, 15 Sep 2005 11:21:42 -0400, Al Dente wrote: Al Dente wrote: Not only are unqualified bookkeepers approved by the Canadian government to guarantee people applying for a Canadian passport, but What are you talking about? I have a passport application in my hand and there's no reference to bookkeepers in the guarantor section.. What makes a person "qualified" to be a guarantor? IMO it should involve the risk of serious punishment if they falsely guarantee. The threat of prosecution isn't enough. What stopped my wife from guaranteeing someone she had known only a few months was not the fear of gov't prosecution, but the fear of the CGA association suspending or even expelling her for unethical conduct. Professional associations are not bound by the same "innocent till proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt" constraints. And if you lose your membership, you're out of a job in the field you worked so hard to attain, perhaps permanently, everywhere in the country. A very stong incentive to follow the rules. BTW, the original poster indicated engineers are not allowed. My passport app says P. Eng's can sign. ================================================= ====== Copyright retained. My opinions - no one else's... If this is illegal where you are, do not read it! |
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