In an attempt to escape ACCOUNTABILITY for the allegations against it, the illegitimate leadership of the Body of Expert and Licensed Accountants of Romania (CECCAR) has back‑dated a webpage on its official site entitled “Public interest whistleblower” (Original: “Avertizor în interes public“) which it recently added to the site menu.
The purpose is obvious: to mislead chartered accountants and accounting professionals, as well as state institutions, and to try—through illegitimate actions—to justify the lack of response to the allegations leveled against its internal interest group.
CECCAR’s post states: “A natural person who holds information, obtained in a professional context, regarding a breach of the legislation applicable to the Body of Expert and Licensed Accountants of Romania, which has occurred or is likely to occur, and who chooses to report the respective breach externally, may do so using the following reporting channels: … online on www.ceccar.ro; in writing on the Reporting Form; email avertizor.public@ceccar.ro; post to CECCAR address.”
The logical flaw of the abusive and illegitimate CECCAR leadership is evident: if a person reports abuses and the breaking of the law by CECCAR’s leadership, that person is directed to contact CECCAR’s own leadership.
Moreover, the whistleblower is required to provide identifying data to CECCAR’s leadership. This is particularly worrying given the well‑known climate within the organisation: anyone who bothers Robert Aurelian Șova (name of the leader cited) is likely to suffer consequences.
Disciplinary committees are effectively instruments of repression for the CECCAR leadership (see the case of Ștefan Mihu — who was meant to be the next president after Șova — and the many other members who were sanctioned for simple posts or statements without grounds). In this context, CECCAR’s insistence on using internal reporting channels to report illegalities is illogical and abusive.
According to Law no. 361/2022 on protection of whistleblowers in the public interest, any person who signals legal breaches has the legal right to use external reporting channels — directly to the National Integrity Agency or other competent authorities — without the obligation to first go through the internal channel of their entity. The law also allows, under certain conditions, public disclosure.
Therefore, CECCAR’s insistence that reports be sent to its own email (avertizor.public@ceccar.ro) or to internal forms — even when complaints are about CECCAR’s leadership — contradicts both the spirit and the letter of the law. CECCAR is not an external competent authority for whistleblowing and has no legal mandate to centralise or intermediate reports that concern it directly.
Furthermore, conditioning reporting on providing identifying details to the accused entity raises serious concerns about breaches of confidentiality and deterring whistleblowers, contrary to the provisions of the law. The law clearly requires protection of the whistleblower’s identity, and external channels exist precisely to avoid reprisals or abusive treatment by the accused entity’s leadership.
Consequently, CECCAR’s attempt to act as an intermediary for an “external” channel (as stated on its webpage) or to centralise internally all reports, including those that implicate it, can constitute a mechanism of information control and blocking institutional or public access to potential corruption, abuse, or illegalities.
Beyond CECCAR’s illogical conduct, there is an usurpation of powers that are not assigned to it by law.
Whistleblowers have the right to address any state institution or European body. Who and why would want CECCAR to be, illegally, an intermediary between whistleblowers and the competent authorities?
CECCAR—like any other entity—cannot intervene in or intermediate a whistleblower’s reporting process.
All of these hurried actions by an illegitimate leadership demonstrate FEAR OF THE TRUTH!
The only legal solution for “a natural person who holds information, obtained in a professional context, regarding a breach of the legislation applicable to the BODY OF EXPERT AND LICENSED ACCOUNTANTS OF ROMANIA, which has occurred or is likely to occur, and who chooses to report the respective breach externally” is to contact either a competent state authority or a public interest supervisory body directly.
There is a clear need for public oversight of CECCAR, a public utility legal entity established by a special law, entrusted with a profession dedicated to serving the public interest.
More details about the attempt to manipulate public information and evidence that CECCAR back‑dated pages to simulate compliance with the law can be found at: https://ceccar.press/2025/10/04/ceccar-backdates-pages-to-simulate-legal-compliance/
A Romanian version of this article is available here:
https://ceccar.press/2025/10/02/scandalul-avertizorilor-ceccar-faulteaza-legea-361-2022/