A chartered accountant who now co-owns Zion Wildlife Kingdom has been ordered to pay nearly $43,000 after he admitted a failure to properly deal with client money belonging to a family trust.
Tauranga-based chartered accountant Ian Leslie Stevenson pleaded guilty before the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountant's disciplinary tribunal to three charges of breaching the institute's code of conduct.
The breaches occurred before be became a part-owner of Zion.
He resigned as a trustee of the family trust, which has name suppression, on April 30 _ the day the tribunal released its decision.
Mr Stevenson dealt with client money through his bank account rather than a properly established trust account and withdrew funds or disbursements without written authority from his co-trustee.