Bhubaneswar, Aug. 9: The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) will take stringent action against its member chartered accountants if they are found to have a role in the activities of fraudulent deposit collection companies.

President of ICAI Subodh Kumar Agrawal said at the all-India level the organisation had got several complaints regarding the fraudulent activities of deposit collection companies and involvement of chartered accountants appointed by these firms.

“At present, we cannot talk about the exact number of cases that have come to us, but we are examining them. We are also waiting for the reports of the government agencies carrying out investigations against these firms,” said Agrawal.

“If the agencies carrying out investigations gives us a report about any of our chartered accountants being involved in these fraudulent activities such as giving manipulative reports of the financial status of the fraudulent companies to lure people to invest in these firms we will cancel their memberships after looking into the cases,” he added.

Instead of so many regulating agencies such as Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), Reserve Bank of India (RBI), registrars of companies and investigating agencies such as local police and crime branch conducting investigation, there should be one regulatory body, which should have full control over these companies, said the president.

In an all-India conference of ICAI held in the city with the theme “Trust, Truth and Transparency”, the speakers highlighted several such aspects. The members said the state government had already provided around 10 acres in Pitapalli for setting up a centre for excellence, but due to red tape and procedural delay it had been held up.

Besides, ICAI has formed a team of at least seven members to study the current economic situation of the country. The team will give its suggestions in 30 days to the central government to help enable economic revival.

K. Raghu, vice-president of ICAI, said the organisation had taken various steps for the society and for the government. The institute has been providing assistance to the governments by conducting audits of their several projects.

“We have several plans. We are going to collaborate with governments to bring accountability and transparency in public service delivery mechanism. We will increase the role of ICAI members in various financial inclusion initiatives of the government,” said the vice-president.