Over twelve quack accountants were arrested and seven accounting firms closed around Kampala yesterday by the Certified Public Accountants (CPA) with the help of police during a crackdown on quack accountants.
CPA spokesperson John Ssegendo said they estimate about 5,000 individuals holding out as accountants are either unqualified or practising without licence in breach of the law.
“After the outcry from the genuine accountants about the escalating numbers of those masquerading, we mounted a quality review programme and we established that a number of fake accountants and companies had flooded the market. We have to put an end to this,” Mr Ssegendo told a local newspaper.
‘’The accountants with questionable credentials, he said, charge lower rates to undercut the professionals. Others help companies to falsify business or financial records to reduce tax liability, he added. According to Section 35(1) of the Accountants Act, 2013, a person shall not practice accountancy in Uganda without a certificate of practice,’’ he added.
The provision imposes a fine of up to Shs10m or a two-year imprisonment on illegal practitioners. According to Mr Ssegendo, the membership certificate for an accountants costs Shs1m, annual certificate renewal at Shs400,000 while a practicing licence costs Shs1.2m a year.
The twelve suspects were yesterday forwarded to the Criminal Investigation Directorate (CID), recorded statements and are to be arraigned in court within the week if the Directorate of Public Prosecutions endorses the charge of forgery preferred against them.
The operation by both police and the Institute of Certified Public Accountants is expected to widen to other parts of the country to weed out fraudsters.