College of Private Accountants opens disciplinary proceedings against accountant over balance sheets

The College of Private Accountants of Costa Rica formalized the transfer of the administrative disciplinary procedure against public accountant Santiago Alberto Campos Quesada for alleged deficiencies in the accounting of a company between 2017 and 2022, which resulted in the failure to comply with a requirement from the National Bank of Costa Rica. The opening order, signed by the Directing Body of the process and endorsed by president Rocío Quirós Gómez and first secretary Karen Brenes Ortiz, is published in La Gaceta No. 212 on Monday, November 9, 2026, within File No. 08-2023 (official reference IN202601137484). If the charges are proven, the sanction may reach a suspension from the practice of the profession for a period of up to three years.

The Board of Directors of the College ordered the initiation of the procedure through an agreement reached in ordinary session No. 4251-2023, held on March 30, 2023. The investigated member, with identity card 3-0216-0741 and professional registration 28902, became the respondent from that moment. The formal transfer of the file took place in ordinary session O.D. No. 17-2024-082023, on Monday, June 17, 2024, at ten o’clock, at the Administrative Prosecutor’s Office of the College.

The origin of the case is the complaint filed on January 9, 2023, by José Orlando Castro Espinoza, ID 8-0071-0440, in his capacity as legal representative of Agrícola Sacuanjoche Sociedad Anónima, legal ID 3-101-749817, a company dedicated to the rental of commercial premises and student rooms in Cartago and, occasionally, to money lending.

The National Bank Requirement

According to the account of the facts, on August 17, 2022, the company received a request for information from the National Bank of Costa Rica, and the commitment was to deliver the financial statements to the Compliance Unit of the banking entity no later than September 16, 2022. Those statements were not submitted on time.

On September 23, 2022, the accountant delivered signed financial statements at the offices of the firm Gutiérrez y Asociados, which, when compared with the accounting records, showed multiple inconsistencies, and therefore could not be presented to the bank. In the meeting on September 16, 2022, with the compliance officer, Laura Espinoza, the respondent did not appear nor provide the committed documentation.

The document also records a charge of 1,000 dollars made on September 30, 2022, paid on the same day at the exchange rate, and several rectifications in the declarations of the Tax Administration’s ATV system with inconsistencies in the rental amounts. The professional relationship was terminated on October 17, 2022.

Charges and Directing Body

The charge points to a probable breach of accounting duties during the contracted periods between 2017 and 2022, with irregularities in tax returns and disregard for repeated requests for financial statements. The case file is based on the College’s Code of Ethics, Law No. 1269, and its Regulations:

• Articles 04, 05, 06, 08, 10, 12, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, and 23 of the Code of Ethics.
• Articles 31, 32, and 33, subsection 1), regarding disciplinary responsibilities.
• Provisional classification as minor and serious breaches of professional duties.

The Governing Body is composed of the following members:

• Arturo Baltodano Baltodano, fiscal director, ID 1-0664-0104.
• Rolan Abarca Quesada, ID 1-0756-0153.
• Luis Fernando Calderón Madrigal, ID 1-0964-0780.
• Luis Chinchilla Castro, ID 1-1125-0320.
• Luis Daniel Aguilar Vargas, alternate member, ID 2-0254-0099.

Hearing, deadlines, and defense

The accused must appear at an oral and private hearing that will be scheduled and notified at the appropriate procedural moment, at the College facilities in San José, Desamparados, Calle Fallas; the hearing will be recorded in digital format and will not be transcribed. To date, the administrative file consists of two thousand sixty folios and may be consulted Monday to Friday, from 8:00 to 17:00, at the Administrative Prosecutor’s Office.

The deadlines established in the order are:

• Three business days for the accused to designate an email address for receiving notifications.
• Twenty-four hours, counted from the communication of the act, to file motions for reconsideration and appeal.
• Three business days for the complainant to express their interest in being a party to the proceedings, pursuant to Article 275 of the General Law of Public Administration.

The motion for reconsideration is resolved by the governing body itself, and the appeal by the College’s Board of Directors, which acts as the deciding body.

Impact

The case exposes the disciplinary risk faced by public accountants regarding the handling of financial information intended for banking entities and the Tax Administration: the College’s regulations allow for the suspension of professional practice for up to three years depending on the severity of the determined breach, which can remove the sanctioned member from the labor market. The notice is published for the second time in the official gazette, such that the procedural deadlines for the parties run from this communication.

Source: La Gaceta, No. 212, Monday, November 9, 2026, Section I, pp. 65-68 (official reference: IN202601137484).