Anti-merger leader stripped of ICAEW membership

Jeff Wooller, the dissident member of the ICAEW who campaigned against its
merger with other institutes, has been stripped of his membership after acting
as the vice chancellor of three organisations falsely claiming to provide
university level education.

A statement from the ICAEW said: “Jeff Wooller was excluded from membership,
with no re-application to be considered for a minimum of five years.” He was
fined £20,000 and ordered to pay £19,533 in costs.

Wooller represented the Irish International University, the Irish University
Business School and the International University Business School.

The complaint against him was that he relied upon his membership of the ICAEW
to gain each position but should have been “aware” of the false claims and took
no action to investigate or prevent them continuing.

The organisations each claimed to offer education equivalent to a British
university when their qualifications were of “little or no intrinsic value”, the
ICAEW complaint claimed.

In the case of the Irish International University, it was not accredited,
contrary to claims on its website, nor was the description of its governance and
structure accurate.

The ICAEW found that each organisation could have misled students or
employers and that Wooller took no action in his official capacities to prevent
it.

The ICAEW’s action addressed the complaint that Wooller’s behaviour was
“likely to bring discredit on himself, the institute or the profession of
accountancy”.

The claims made the university the subject of a BBC investigation in which an
interview with Wooller featured.

Further reading:

Prospects: University
challenged