EOpriv: Greaney on Ryan's Malicious Libel, Part II

["Norman G. Kurland" <thirdway@cesj.org>]

(Part II; Continuation of Greaney's case against malicious libel of
William Ryan)

As to my "good moral character," it is clear from his
accusations that Mr. Ryan believes I lack one.
Unfortunately for his case, his opinion is of no
concern to the DC Board of Accountancy.  His opinion
of my character is of concern to me only because he
continues to broadcast his opinions as facts.

I passed the CPA exam in March of 1986.  Mr. Ryan
admits this after first denying it (see below), so I
do not feel it necessary to prove it.

I meet all the education requirements.  As I am sure
that Mr. Ryan, in his obsessive missions to verify my
credentials, has already investigated my attendance at
the institutions where I claim to have received my
degrees, I will leave this, too, to him to verify, if
he so wishes.

I paid the fees requisite to apply for certification.
I do not have the canceled check handy, but I rely on
the fact that the Board did, in fact, grant my
certification to substantiate the fact that I paid the
required fees.

I am therefore entitled under the rules established by
the District of Columbia Board of Accountancy to call
myself ("hold myself out as") a Certified Public
Accountant, and have been so entitled since March,
1986.  This entitlement extends until 31st October
2005, or later if I meet the continuing professional
education requirements.

I am aware that Mr. Ryan disagrees with the fact that
I am entitled to call myself a CPA.  Mr. Ryan,
however, is not the DC Board of Accountancy.  Neither
is he the District of Columbia Regulatory Board.  Mr.
Ryan does not make the determination as to who is or
is not a CPA, nor does his interpretation of the
regulations have any relevance.  Mr. Ryan's
interpretation is a matter of opinion.  The Board's
interpretation of its own regulations is a fact.  Mr.
Ryan has, in spite of all efforts by Mr. Beatty to
convince him of his error, misstated that fact.

To return to Mr. Ryan's posting:

3)  <<Greaney received the Certificate in 1986.>>

Correct.  However, Mr. Ryan then states:

4)  <<He never received the Permit.>>

Completely untrue.

5)  <<He may well have held himself out as being a CPA
since 1985, but apparently was never licensed in any
jurisdiction.>>

Mr. Ryan does not explain why, on the basis of his
faulty understanding of the information he received
from Mr. Beatty (in which Mr. Beatty said nothing
about any jurisdiction other than the District of
Columbia), he made the leap that I "apparently was
never licensed in any jurisdiction."  Mr. Ryan's
statement may be in accordance with his fantasies, but
is not in accordance with reality.  I have "held
myself out as being a CPA" since I passed the exam and
paid the fees for Board certification, as I am
entitled to do under the regulations of the DC Board
of Accountancy.  That is the only true portion of the
statement Mr. Ryan makes, and he phrases it in such a
manner as to suggest that it is not true.

In answer to this accusation, I can do no better than
extract the statement from Mr. Ryan's subsequent
posting, to which I respond below.

<<Greaney's license, number CPA4644 was granted
January 6, 1990.>>

Although Mr. Ryan had earlier stated as a "fact" that
I am not, nor have I ever been a CPA, the very next
day he reverses himself and declares that I am, in
fact, a CPA, and was granted a license in 1990.

This sentence does, however, contain the only
misstatement of fact I have made in this entire
matter.  I stated that I have been a CPA since 1985.
This is incorrect.  I have been a CPA since March,
1986.  When I made the statement, I was working solely
from memory of an event that happened more than
sixteen years ago.  The matter did not seem to be of
sufficient importance to go looking up my records.
When I made the statement, I was unaware of the
lengths to which Mr. Ryan's obsession would take him.
At the time I made the statement, I believed it to be
true.  As of today, I consider whether I qualified as
a CPA in 1985 or 1986 irrelevant.  Mr. Ryan attaches
immense importance to this.  I do not.  If anyone
considers an immaterial misstatement of fact made in
good faith important, I herewith offer my apology.

We have therefore established three facts.  1.  I made
an immaterial misstatement of fact in good faith in
asserting that I had been a CPA since 1985, when in
point of fact, I have been a CPA since 1986.  2.  I am
entitled under the rules of the DC Board to style
myself a CPA from the period beginning March 1986.  3.
 I was granted a license to practice on January 6,
1990.

We now come to the matter of Mr. Ryan's second
posting:

6)  <<From: "William B. Ryan"
<william_b_ryan@hotmail.com> Subject: Re: OWNERSHIP:
greaney To: ownership@cog.kent.edu>>

 <<In clarification, I received the attached phone
message from Mr. Beatty this morning, which I followed
up with a return call this morning. This is after two
separate phone calls with Beatty yesterday.>>

I (Michael Greaney) spoke with Mr. George Beatty for a
second time on 27th August 2002 in reference to this
statement by Mr. Ryan.  I first asked Mr. Beatty if he
was aware that Mr. Ryan was distributing a copy of the
sound recording of the message he left with Mr. Ryan
(the "attached phone message" to which Mr. Ryan
refers).  Mr. Beatty responded that this had been done
without his knowledge or consent.

Mr. Beatty stated that he had attempted to explain
matters to Mr. Ryan, but that "he just wouldn't
listen."  Instead, Mr. Beatty stated that Mr. Ryan
insisted that his own interpretation of the statutes
and regulations governing the designation and use of
"CPA" or "Certified Public Accountant" was correct,
regardless of anything Mr. Beatty might say.  Mr. Ryan
ignored Mr. Beatty's statement that I had every right
to hold myself out as a licensed CPA, albeit with an
"inactive" status.  In other words, I hold an
"inactive" license.

7)  <<In DC's records, Greaney's name was spelled
G-R-E-E-A-N-E-Y, which is now corrected.>>

As noted above, this error in the DC records led to
Mr. Beatty's initial difficulty in locating the
correct computer files concerning my license.

8)  <<Greaney's license, number CPA4644 was granted
January 6, 1990. The license expired October 31, 2000
and has not been renewed.>>

Mr. Ryan's statement that my license "expired" is
incorrect.  It was put into "inactive status" pending
my completion of the required CEU credits.  My CEU
credits had actually been completed in June, 2000, but
due to a mix-up at Assessment Systems, Inc. ("ASI") of
Landover, Maryland, the private-sector subcontractor
that handles the administration of professional
licensing, I did not receive the renewal paperwork
until 20th December 2000.  I immediately sent in my
renewal and paid the fees.

The renewal period had been extended from 31st October
2000 to 31st December 2000.  The educational
institution from which I had received my continuing
education credits stated that it required a minimum of
ten days to fill transcript requests.  I therefore
requested that the CEU credit certification be sent
directly from the educational institution to ASI.  In
February 2001 I was informed by ASI that my renewal
form had not been accompanied with the required
certification of CEU credits.  The renewal process
could not, therefore, be completed until I fulfilled
the educational requirements.  I was further informed
that the education requirements had to be completed
AFTER 31st October 2000.  This invalidated my previous
CEU credits, as they had been completed BEFORE June
2000.  Until then, according to ASI, my license would
be "inactive" but would be "reactivated" upon receipt
of the CEU certification and payment of another fee.
>From 31st October 2000 until I fulfilled the
requirements, I could hold myself out as a licensed
CPA, but I could not "practice" as a CPA.

The word "practice" has a specific meaning in this
context.  It means that as long as my license remained
inactive, I could not examine a set of financial
statements and render a professional opinion on or
certify the fairness of their presentation.  Since
31st October 2000 I have prepared numerous sets of
financial statements for clients, but in every case
each page was clearly marked "unaudited" and the
explicit statement affixed to the front of the
financial statements that I do not render an opinion.
I have not certified any financial statements during
this period.

9)  <<At the very least, it appears, if Greaney
claimed to be a CPA between 1985 and 1990, he was
lying.>>

I will concede that I made a misstatement of fact
concerning the date on which I became Board certified.
 The word "lie" however, includes the assumption that
there was intent to deceive.  I did not intend to
deceive and, at the time I made the statement, I made
it in good faith.

(Continued in Part III)

Michael D. Greaney, MBA and, yes, "CPA"
Director of Research
Center for Economic and Social Justice
www.cesj.org