The first case to appear before the new ICAEW public disciplinary proceedings resulted in a guilty verdict last night.

Ehsan Malik, of Ehsan Malik & Co, was found guilty of failing to carry out hot file reviews of his audit work.

Malik was fined £5,000 and will have to pay costs of £9,000, and the panel recommended he be excluded from ICAEW membership for five years.

Hot file reviews involve other firms coming in to look over audits.

The case began with defendant Malik turning up late, and a row over documents that the institute counsel wanted to submit on the day, with Malik successfully heading off the attempt.

With proceedings dragging, the parties had to continue discussions over lunch to move the process on.

Malik, defending himself, argued that he had not signed off the audits in question, but that other firms had and that his signature had been faked.

The ICAEW investigating committee's counsel asked Malik why he had not informed the institute, or Companies House, of the faked signature issues, a move that Malik said would have been a 'waste of time'.

Malik told Accountancy Age that he was 'relieved' the process was now over and that he had not yet decided whether to appeal.

Further reading:

Retired member faces first ICAEW tribunal