Other Disciplinary Actions

Additional disciplinary actions against Pennsylvania practitioners are available through the AICPA Professional Ethics and Pennsylvania Department of State websites.

Disciplinary Publication Policy

View the PICPA Disciplinary Publication Policy approved by PICPA Council on Dec. 4, 2012.

Disciplinary Actions

Members who violate the PICPA Code of Professional Conduct may appear in the Pennsylvania CPA Journal.

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.

2022

Uriah L. Wells
Effective Date: March 17, 2022
Publication Date: Oct. 2022

Uriah L. Wells, was suspended from membership in the PICPA, retroactively beginning Oct. 26, 2021, in accordance with PICPA bylaws Article XIII, Section 4(b). The suspension ended Jan. 2, 2022, as his license was directed by the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, to be reinstated.

Raymond W. Sia
Effective Date: July 12, 2022
Publication Date: Oct. 2022

Raymond W. Sia, Royersford, Pa., was admonished by the PICPA effective July 12, 2022, resulting from a U.S. Department of Justice referral. Specifically, the admonishment follows an offer of a settlement agreement based on prima facie evidence of violations of Rule 201 – General Standards, (A) Professional Competence; Rule 202 – Compliance with Standards; and Rule 203 – Accounting Principles. 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 admonishment by the AICPA and the PICPA from the effective date of agreement.
• To comply immediately with professional standards applicable to the professional services he performs.
• To complete 23 hours of specified CPE within 12 months of the effective date of the agreement.
• To hire an outside party to perform a preissuance review of reports, financial statements, and working papers on five audits he performs during the one-year period following the date the reviewer has been approved, no later than 30 days of the date he returns to such work, by the ethics charging authority (ECA).
• To submit a list of the highest-level (audits, reviews, and compilations with note disclosures) engagements that he performed in the six-month period following the date he completed the preissuance reviews so the ECA to select one engagement for review.
• To provide an attestation immediately, then every six months for a period of three years, that he is no longer serving in an overall engagement supervisory role on audits subject to Government Auditing Standards. If he returns to such work, he must agree to complete actions outlined in the settlement agreement.
• To be prohibited from performing peer reviews in any capacity until the directives outlined in the settlement agreement are complete.
• To be prohibited from serving as a member of any ethics or peer review committee of the AICPA and the PICPA until all directives outlined in the settlement agreement are complete.
• To be prohibited from teaching continuing professional education courses approved by the AICPA or state CPAs societies in accounting, auditing, Government Auditing Standards, and Uniform Guidance until he has completed all directives in the settlement agreement.
• To submit written evidence from the partner at his firm responsible for coordinating his firm’s peer review and the firm’s managing partner that he has provided the settlement agreement to them within 30 days of accepting the agreement.
• That the ECA 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 ECA shall publish his name, the name of his firm, the charges, and the terms of the settlement agreement.
• That the ECA shall monitor his compliance with the terms of this settlement agreement and initiate an investigation where the ECA finds there has been noncompliance.

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.

Ronald M. Rozansky, Kutztown, Pa., was admonished by the PICPA effective Dec. 19, 2022, in accordance with PICPA bylaws Article XIII, Section 4(c). The admonishment is based on the disciplinary action taken by the Pennsylvania State Board of Accountancy following Mr. Rozansky engaging in unprofessional conduct by undertaking to perform services that he could not reasonably expect to complete with professional competence.

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.

Randy W. Tarpey
Effective Date: Sept. 1, 2021
Publication Date: Oct. 2022

Randy W. Tarpey, Tyrone, Pa., was suspended from membership in the PICPA for one year, effective Sept. 1, 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 violation of PICPA’s and AICPA’s Code of Conduct Rule 201 – General Standards, (A) Professional Competence; Rule 202 – Compliance with Standards; and Rule 203 – Accounting Principles, related to an audit of a hospital and its 403(B) plan. 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’s Article XIII, Section 2.
• To neither admit nor deny specified charges.
• To his expulsion from membership of the AICPA and the PICPA from the effective date of agreement.
• To comply immediately with professional standards applicable to the professional services he performs and to submit evidence of such compliance.
•  9.5 hours of CPE.
• Attest every six months for three years that he is no longer performing audit engagements, and if he returns to such work he must take 36 hours of specified CPE prior.
• Attest every six months for three years that he is no longer performing EBP audit engagements, and if he returns to such work he must take 20 hours of specified CPE prior, have preissuance review of two EBP engagements, have a work product follow-up, and have a requirement to join AICPA’s Employee Benefit Plan Audit Quality Center.
• Prohibited from serving as a member of ethics or peer review committees of the AICPA or the PICPA, from teaching CPE, and performing peer reviews at any compacity until directives are completed.
• 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.
• The AICPA and the PICPA shall monitor his compliance with the terms of the agreement and initiate an investigation if there is noncompliance.

John P. Morey
Effective Date: Aug. 10, 2021
Publication Date: Nov. 18, 2022

John P. Morey, Bethlehem, Pa., was suspended from membership in the PICPA for one year, retroactive to Aug. 10, 2021 – the date of the Public Company Oversight Board's (PCAOB) disciplinary action, in accordance with PICPA bylaws Article XIII, Section 4(c). The suspension follows him being disciplined by the PCAOB when significant audit deficiencies on a carrying broker dealer audit were identified.

John C. Shea
Effective Date: Aug. 24, 2021
Publication Date: Nov. 18, 2022

John C. Shea, Bensalem, Pa., was suspended from membership in the PICPA for two years, retroactive to Aug. 24, 2021 – the date of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) disciplinary action – in accordance with PICPA bylaws Article XIII, Section 4(c). The suspension follows him being disciplined by the SEC for failure to properly accrue and disclose loss contingencies related to pending civil litigation in the financial statements of Healthcare Services Group Inc., where he was in the position of CFO, resulting in the misstatement of net income and earnings per share (EPS) that did not accurately reflect the company’s underlying performance for multiple quarters.

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.