The firm was prosecuted by CPA Ontario in the Ontario Court of Justice
An Ontario accountant and his firm have been prosecuted by CPA Ontario and fined a total $65,000 for engaging in accounting activities without being registered.
BF Borgers CPA PC and Ben Borgers, of Lakewood, Colorado, pleaded guilty to the provincial regulatory body’s charges laid in the Ontario Court of Justice for offences under the Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario Act, 2017, and the Public Accounting Act, 2004.
The court heard that Borgers and his firm had conducted public accountancy work including auditing a reporting issuer, without registering with CPA Ontario or holding a Public Accounting Licence in Ontario.
Borgers and his firm must pay a total of $50,000 to the Government of Ontario and $15,000 to CPA Canada for the costs of its investigation and prosecution, and both are placed on probation for two years.
CPA Ontario governs and regulates CPAs and accounting firms in Ontario, which has over 100,000 CPAs and 20,000 students, and enables mobility of CPAs through inter-provincial and international agreements.
"We continue to take action against accounting firms and CPAs who fail to comply with our requirements to practice in the province, in accordance with our mandate to protect the public and uphold the high standards of the CPA profession," said Janet Gillies, CPA, CA, executive vice-president, Regulatory and Standards, CPA Ontario. "Unregistered and unlicensed firms and CPAs operating in Ontario bypass essential regulatory oversight, undermining public protection and confidence in public accounting."
BF Borgers CPA PC and Ben Borgers continue to be unauthorized and unlicensed to practice public accounting in Ontario.
