Accountant struck off CIPFA for ₤44m gamble

Andrew Pate, an accountant at Newcastle-under-Lyme council, has been struck off the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) register for misconduct after he was discovered having used more ₤44m of the council’s funds in 2004 to play the stockmarket, increasing its debts from £22.6m to £66.8m.

Pate took out loans in the council's name and invested them through a friend's stockbroker business, the Daily Telegraph reports.

Pate’s misconduct hearing was told that, although he did not make any money from his actions, he exposed the council to ‘unnecessary financial risk’, by bringing their borrowing above the statutory allowed limit.

The CIPFA disciplinary committee said Pate had ‘deliberately disregarded’ his professional responsibilities and found he committed a ‘very considerable breach of trust’.

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