Law sparks accountant safety fears

Published on Sunday 12 March 2006 02:03

SCOTTISH accountants are demanding protection from clients whose questionable activities they must report under strict new money laundering and fraud laws.

The Institution of Chartered Accountants in Scotland (ICAS) is asking ministers for assurances that any information their members pass on about criminal dealings will be kept confidential and that they will receive protection from the authorities.

Accountants north of the Border are making the submission to the Home Office, along with their English counterparts, in the wake of a series of threats to accountants and an attack on the Scottish Law Society's chief accountant, Leslie Cumming. The attack on Cumming is widely believed to have been connected to his investigations of crooked dealings among lawyers.

Tom McMorrow, the Director of Regulation and Compliance for ICAS said: "Accountants are obliged to pass on information to the authorities and there are serious worries over how confidential that information will remain."

The matter is being dealt with by the Home Office because money laundering legislation is reserved by Westminster.

McMorrow added that many accountants had been alarmed by some of the coverage of the case of Tessa Jowell and her husband, David Mills, which has seen confidential documents from accountants published in the media.

An insider added accountants were increasingly finding themselves as the target of threats. The source said: "People who launder money are likely to be pretty nasty people. Some accountants have been threatened in no uncertain terms."

Cumming, who was ambushed outside his Edinburgh home by a masked attacker, has told detectives that the assault was most likely ordered by a corrupt solicitor whom he has investigated.

It is thought Cumming, who was treated for knife wounds, gave the police the names of two former lawyers he has investigated for embezzlement and professional misconduct.

Due to the nature of his work, Cumming is understood to have regularly received hate mail.