Code of Conduct Violations: Transparency and Accountability
As per the PICPA bylaws, Members who violate the PICPA Code of Professional Conduct may also appear in the Pennsylvania CPA Journal.
2024
Publication Date: May 13, 2024
James D. Gazonas, West Chester, Pa., was suspended from membership in the PICPA for four years, retroactive to Feb. 21, 2024, and admonished effective Feb. 21, 2024, in accordance with Bylaw Article XIII, Section 4(b). The suspension follows him pleading guilty to a single count of misapplication of entrusted property, a misdemeanor in connection with allegedly stealing tens of thousands of dollars in cash from a long-time client.
2023
John M. J. Cipriani
Effective Date: March 6, 2023
Publication Date: April 2023
John M. J. Cipriani, Sewell, N.J., was expelled from membership in the PICPA effective Nov. 16, 2022, in accordance with PICPA bylaws Article XIII, Section 1(f). His expulsion follows a decision by a hearing panel of the Joint Trial Board, which was upheld by an ad hoc committee of the Joint Trial Board on March 6, 2023. His expulsion was the result of his not cooperating in an ethics investigation.
The suspension will remain active until we receive notice that his Pennsylvania and Florida CPA licenses are no longer in suspended status.
2022
David L. Williams
Effective Date: Dec. 19, 2022
Publication Date: Dec. 19, 2022
David L. Williams, West Chester, Pa., was expelled from membership in PICPA effective Dec. 19, 2022, in accordance with PICPA bylaws, Article XIII, Section 1(d). His expulsion followed the revocation of his certificate to practice as a certified public accountant in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and a cease-and-desist order issued preventing him from practicing as a certified public accountant in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, for engaging in conduct that brings the profession of public accounting into disrepute or that lowers the public esteem for the profession.
Steven A. Ginsberg
Effective Date: Dec. 19, 2022
Publication Date: Jan. 26, 2023
Steven A. Ginsberg, Huntingdon Valley, Pa., was expelled from membership in the PICPA effective Dec. 19, 2022, after he entered into a settlement agreement under the Joint Ethics Enforcement Program. His expulsion follows the conclusion of an investigation that found prima facie evidence of his violation of PICPA’s and AICPA’s Code of Conduct General Standards Rule .01a, Professional Competence (3.310.001); Compliance with Standards Rule (1.310.001); Accounting Principles Rule (1.320.001); and Government Bodies, Commissions, or Other Regulatory Agencies (1.400.050) when deficiencies were found in an employee benefit plan audit for the year ended Dec. 31, 2017. The terms of the settlement agreement are as follows:
- To waive his rights to further investigation of this matter in accordance with the Joint Ethics Enforcement Program Manual of Procedures.
- To waive his rights to a hearing under AICPA bylaws Section 7.4 and PICPA Article XIII, Section 2(b).
- To neither admit nor deny specified charges.
- To expulsion from membership of the AICPA and the PICPA from the effective date of agreement.
- That the AICPA and the PICPA shall provide a copy of the settlement agreement to the AICPA’s Peer Review Division staff, his firm’s peer review administering entity, and his firm’s peer reviewer.
- That the AICPA and the PICPA shall publish his name, the name of his firm (Hano & Ginsberg LLP), the charges, and the terms of the settlement agreement.
2021
John A. Stiver
Effective Date: April 12, 2021
Publication Date: Oct. 2022
John A. Stiver, Pittsburgh, Pa., was expelled from membership in the PICPA effective April 12, 2021, after he entered into a settlement agreement under the Joint Ethics Enforcement Program. His expulsion follows the conclusion of an investigation that found prima facie evidence of his violation of Code of Conduct 1.400.001, Acts Discreditable Rule, when he issued an audit report after he had been terminated from the AICPA Peer Review Program. The terms of the settlement agreement are as follows
- To waive his rights to a hearing under AICPA bylaws Section 7.4 and PICPA’s Article XIII, Section 2(b).
- To neither admit nor deny specified charges.
- To his expulsion from membership of the AICPA and the PICPA from the effective date of agreement.
- That the AICPA and the PICPA shall publish his name, the name of his firm, the charges, and the terms of the settlement agreement.
2019
Kenneth R. Seibert
Effective Date: Nov. 13, 2019
Publication Date: Oct. 2022
Kenneth R. Seibert, Lebanon, Pa., was expelled from membership in the PICPA effective Nov. 13, 2019, after he entered into a settlement agreement under the Joint Ethics Enforcement Program. His expulsion follows the conclusion of an investigation that found prima facie evidence of his violation of PICPA’s and AICPA’s Code of Conduct 1.300.001, General Standards, .01a Professional Competence Rule; 3.310.001, Compliance with Standards Rules; 1.320.001, Accounting Principles Rule; and 1.400.050 Government Bodies, Commissions, or Other Regulatory Agencies, when deficiencies were found in an employee benefit plan audit issued in 2015. The terms of the settlement agreement are as follows:
- To waive his rights to further investigation of this matter in accordance with the Joint Ethics Enforcement Program Manual of Procedures.
- To waive his rights to a hearing under AICPA bylaws Section 7.4 and PICPA Article XIII, Section 2(b).
- To neither admit nor deny specified charges.
- To expulsion from membership of the AICPA and the PICPA from the effective date of agreement.
- That the AICPA and the PICPA shall provide a copy of the settlement agreement to the AICPA’s Peer Review Division staff, his firm’s peer review administering entity, and his peer reviewer.
- That the AICPA and the PICPA shall publish his name, the name of his firm, the charges, and the terms of the settlement agreement.
Judith A. Baldasari
Effective Date: Nov. 23, 2019
Publication Date: Oct. 2022
Judith A. Baldasari, Doylestown, Pa., was expelled from membership in the PICPA effective Nov. 23, 2019, in accordance with PICPA bylaws Article XIII, Section 1(f). Her expulsion follows a decision by the hearing panel of the Joint Trial Board. Her expulsion followed her not cooperating in an ethics investigation.
