Gothama Hewawithana

Member’s name: Mr Gothama Hewawithana
Date of Hearing: 31 March 2021
Division: Victoria
Tribunal: Disciplinary Tribunal

On 31 March 2021, a One Person Disciplinary Tribunal found Mr Hewawithana breached:

1. By-Law 4.2 of the 6 April 2018 By-Laws, which provide:

Each member undertaking Continuing Professional Development must:

(a) Maintain a record of the precise nature of his or her Continuing Professional Development (CPD), including date, time expended and topics covered; …
(c) Produce such record to an officer of CPA Australia for inspection upon request

Mr Hewawithana failed to produce for inspection a record of his CPD Activities in a triennium.

2. By-Law 5.2(a)(ii) of the 9 December 2019 By-Laws which provide:

(a) As soon as reasonably expedient after allocation of a Complaint, the PCO (Professional Conduct Officer) must:…

ii. require the Member to provide a satisfactory explanation with respect to the matters referred to in the Complaint. If a Member fails to provide a satisfactory explanation in writing with respect to the matters referred to in the Complaint within 10 Business Days (or such further period as agreed with the PCO) of receipt of a request by the PCO, the GMPC may proceed to make an assessment under By-Law 5.3 on the material before him or her without further communication with the Member and the Member will be in breach of By-Law 5.2(a), which breach must be dealt with concurrently with the Complaint.

Mr Hewawithana failed to provide a sufficient and satisfactory written explanation and copies of any supporting documents in response to the Complaint within 10 Business Days or at all.

Mr Hewawithana attended the Tribunal and denied both complaints 1 and 2.

Penalty and costs

The One Person Disciplinary Tribunal found the Complaints sustained and imposed the following penalties:

Complaint 1:

• forfeiture of membership;
• the following conditions were imposed as to Readmission:
  
  • Mr Hewawithana is not eligible for readmission until he provides evidence of having undertaken 40 hours of CPD activities in the year prior to his membership readmission application; and
  • Mr Hewawithana’s CPA Australia membership status of Fellow will be lowered to CPA for a period of five years from the date of readmission.

Complaint 2:

• a fine of $2,000
• a severe reprimand.

Mr Hewawithana was ordered to pay CPA Australia’s costs of $2458.

Prior to any application for readmission, Mr Hewawithana must first pay the fine and costs.