[Ed. Note: The following is reprinted with permission from Re:Balance, a blog published by Attorney Jim Peterson. Jim’s views on the Big Four accounting firms seem to be very much in line with ours. Enjoy!] Tired Old Boys’ Clubs — A Lesson on How the Eras End by Jim Peterson, Esq.Can a long-vibrant institution be […]
Autonomy and the "willful shock" that accompanies the strategic termination of willful blindness
Guest Post by Charles Seavey [Ed. Note: I found this article in a LinkedIn industry group. With the author’s permission, it is reposted here. Charles Seavey is a lawyer, consultant and writer. He is one of the few folks who writes more articles than I do! Recently I was asked why we post so many […]
NY Judge Rules Against KPMG In Massive Fraud Suit
by Brian Mahany If we aren’t critical of big banks and mortgage lenders, then we are probably writing about the Big 4 audit firms. Everyday we read another lawsuit or complaint accusing these giants of fraud, negligence or worse. Some claim these big institutions are “too big to fail.” We simply think they have become […]
Audit Firm Named In Class Action Suit For Failure To Detect Fraud
The audit system in the United States is largely broken. Most auditors are financially dependent on the very people they are required to audit. If you perform a rigorous audit and get a reputation for not giving clients high markets on their financials you will soon find yourself with no clients. Fail to report something, […]
Another Black Eye For KPMG And The Audit World
by Brian Mahany Japan’s Financial Services Agency ordered KPMG affiliate KPMG Azsa to dramatically improve the quality of their audits. The Japanese regulator had similar words for Ernst & Young ShinNihon as well. This action comes on the heels of one of the worst accounting scandals in Japanese history, last year’s revelation that Olympus, a […]
More Audit Fraud – Tiny Illinois Town Loses $50 Million!
by Brian Mahany The little Illinois town of Dixon has less than 16,000 residents. Located in rural Lee county, Dixon was best known for being the boyhood home of former President Ronald Reagan. Now it is known for being the city that lost $50,000,000.00. That’s quite a feat considering the per capita income of Dixon is […]
Win Some, Lose Some
by Brian Mahany We follow large fraud cases against auditing firms. Look no further than this blog for plenty of horror stories about auditors turning a blind eye to corruption and fraud. Unfortunately, the system is broken. How can an auditor truly be independent when he or she is dependent on the client to get […]