Posts Tagged Accounting malpractice
NFL QB Sues Law Firm Over Bad Tax Advice
Posted by admin in Fraud Recovery, Legal Malpractice on December 31, 2011
by Brian Mahany
Taxes are complicated. During a recent trial we asked all of the IRS agents if any of them had ever read the entire tax code. Not one had. With thousands of forms and tens of thousands of pages of statutes, rules and regulations, it’s no surprise that individuals and business owners often need [...]
Baby Boomers Wearing Bulls Eyes
Posted by admin in Fraud Recovery on December 20, 2011
by Brian Mahany
If the figures coming from the North American Securities Administrators Association are correct, the number of fraud actions involving victims over the age of 50 has more than doubled in just one year. State and provincial securities agencies logged 506 enforcement actions in 2009. By last year that number skyrocketed to 1241.
That number [...]
Accounting Malpractice
Posted by admin in Fraud Recovery, Legal Malpractice on December 18, 2011
by Brian Mahany
The term “malpractice” strikes fear in the minds of many professionals… doctors, lawyers and accountants. For most people, their only interaction with an accountant occurs during income tax filing season. People make that once a year visit, drop off a box of receipts and that’s it. For many other people, however, their accountant [...]
Another CPA Firm Sued For Failing to Spot Ponzi Scheme
Posted by admin in Fraud Recovery on December 12, 2011
by Brian Mahany
Eleven months ago, we reported on Frederick Berg and the reportedly largest Ponzi scheme in Seattle’s history. Berg was indicted at the close of 2010 after federal prosecutors say he bilked hundreds of investors out of $130 million. Much of that money was frittered away on Berg’s lavish lifestyle - the Seattle Times [...]
Accounting Firm Sued In Ponzi Scheme Case
Posted by admin in Fraud Recovery, Legal Malpractice on November 19, 2011
by Brian Mahany
Here is a new twist. A hedge fund sues an accounting firm for its failure to uncover a Ponzi scheme operated by one of the hedge fund’s traders. That might sound farfetched, but its not. New York accounting firm Rothstein Kass was sued by two hedge fund managers in San Francisco Superior Court [...]
When Auditors Lie
Posted by admin in Fraud Recovery on August 7, 2011
by Brian Mahany
In recent months we have run several stories about the sloppy auditing practices of several accounting firms. From David Friehling, the solo practitioner who served as Bernie Madoff’s auditor, to Arthur Andersen LLP, once one of the “big 5″ accounting firms and auditors of Enron, sloppy auditing is nothing new. Investors and bankers [...]
Blame The Tax Preparer Defense Fails In U.S. Tax Court
by Brian Mahany
Stephen Woodsum and his wife Anne Lovett hired both a lawyer and a CPA to prepare their tax return. The couple had many business interests and showed a taxable income of $29.2 million on their 2006 federal income returns. Unfortunately, that income figure failed to include an additional $3.4 million in income realized [...]
CPA Guilty of Misusing $44 Million of Client Funds
Posted by admin in Fraud Recovery on April 11, 2011
by Brian Mahany
An Oregon CPA pleaded guilty to charges that he conspired to commit wire fraud and money laundering. Brian Stevens of Bend, Oregon entered the guilty at his arraignment. According to the government’s complaint, Stevens misused $44 million of his client’s money. When his business collapsed, 91 customers lost $13.7 million. A second [...]
Celebrity Money Manager Heads to Prison
Posted by admin in Fraud Recovery on March 5, 2011
by Brian Mahany
Kenneth Starr, former money manager for Wesley Snipes, Al Pacino and Sylvester Stallone, was sentenced to 7 ½ years in prison. Last year Starr pled guilty to stealing over $30 million from his celebrity clients. The sentence is a bittersweet victory for me; I tried to alert authorities in January of 2008 that [...]
Investor Sues Major Accounting Firm, Wins $91 Million (”Gatekeeper Suit”)
Posted by admin in Fraud Recovery, Legal Malpractice on February 2, 2011
by Brian Mahany
George Batchelor thought he found a sure thing when he decided to invest in Grand Court Lifestyles, a company that operated senior citizen communities. Little did he know that the company was on the verge of bankruptcy. Now a Florida jury decided that Grand Court’s accounting and auditing firm, BDO Seidman, should be [...]
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