Chartered Professional Accountants of Alberta, the governing body for the profession in that province, has confirmed “a hearing into allegations of unprofessional conduct” against former Sechelt chief financial officer Victor Mema.
CPA Alberta temporarily suspended Mema’s registration in early July, pending the outcome of the disciplinary proceedings.
Mema, who now lives in Surrey, left Sechelt for a post with the City of Nanaimo in 2015. In 2017 the district launched a small claims action alleging that after Mema left, “it came to the district’s attention that the defendant had charged a significant number of items to the district credit card without proper approval from his supervisor.”
The district is claiming the charges were personal and included flights and accommodation, cell phone charges, and cash advances. It also claims Mema did pay back $4,381.19 and admitted to billing around $7,700 in personal items on the district credit card.
The court filing alleges Mema has failed to pay $9,7429.20 in “admitted and obviously personal unapproved charges” and it’s that amount plus service charges the district wants the court to order Mema to pay.
None of the allegations has been proven in court, which has yet to hear the district’s claim.
Officials with the District of Sechelt said this week that it has never filed a complaint against Mema with CPA Alberta, but one count in the allegations to be heard states he “failed to carry out his duties as chief financial officer of the D.S. with integrity and due care.”
The details match what the district claimed in its court case, including that Mema “used his corporate credit card, issued by the D.S., for use towards not less than $7,743.29 of personal expense… failed to submit on a timely basis his monthly VISA Logs for expenses he incurred for the months of April 2014, November and December 2014 and January to August 2015… and failed to promptly reimburse the D.S. for the unauthorized personal expenses when his employment ended in August 2015.”
Mema was released from his job at the City of Nanaimo in 2018, and CPA Alberta is also alleging that he “failed to act with integrity and due care in carrying out his duties as chief financial officer of the C.N.” The details include using a corporate credit card for more than $14,000 in personal expenses and failing to promptly reimburse when repayment was requested.
CPA Alberta also alleges Mema “failed to cooperate with the regulatory processes of CPA Alberta in that he failed to respond on a timely basis to requests of the CPA Alberta contract investigator.”
Mema is currently involved in a BC Human Rights Tribunal complaint against the City of Nanaimo in which he alleges incidents of racial discrimination.
The tribunal proceeding was to have taken place in October, but has been delayed.
A BC Human Rights Tribunal complaint filed by Mema against the District of Sechelt in 2016 was dismissed.
The CPA Alberta discipline hearing is set for Feb. 4 and 5, 2020.
Mema has not responded to Coast Reporter’s request for comment.
