An accountant was ordered to pay a fine and costs totalling €20,000 following disciplinary proceedings brought against him by the regulatory arm of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland, writes Barry O'Halloran.

The Chartered Accountants' Regulatory Board fined Kevin O'Donovan of O'Donovan & Partners, Bridge Street, Cork, €10,000 and ordered him to pay costs of €10,000 at a hearing last month. The board released details of the proceedings yesterday. It is understood the proceedings were brought as a result of a complaint made by a client.

The board's disciplinary tribunal found that Mr O'Donovan failed to clarify to the board "how he had accounted for a balance of €20,544 due to the estate of a named party and/or provide a full and clear explanation as to how the said sum of money was dealt with".

It is understood that the €20,544 was the subject of a dispute between Mr O'Donovan and a client which was subsequently resolved. He also clarified how he dealt with the money at the tribunal hearing.

The tribunal said he "failed to reply fully to correspondence seeking clarification that all bogus non-resident account funds relating to a particular client had been properly disclosed to the Revenue", and he borrowed money from a client contrary to the institute's ethical guide. It also said he facilitated "the making of account entries in the records of a named party", which would have misled anyone trying to establish the source of those funds.