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• Court Reinstates Malpractice Suit Against Deloitte

  November 5, 2009

  A malpractice lawsuit against Deloitte that was filed by Holtsville, N.Y.-based Symbol Technologies can proceed, an appeals court in New York has ruled.

• Madoff Accountant Pleads Guilty

  November 3, 2009

  David Friehling, the accountant whose firm signed off on audits of Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff, has pleaded guilty to essentially rubberstamping his client’s financials.

• 2009 Fraud Awareness Symposium

  November 3, 2009

  Learn ways to improve fraud awareness, detection and prevention from three expert panels at this conference presented by the Illinois CPA Society.

• Don't expose yourself

  November 2, 2009

  Fee disputes and increased services heighten firms' liability exposure

• Over Half-Billion Dollars Committed to Defrauded Madoff Customers

  October 28, 2009

  Payouts now in the works to the former clients of Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff have reached $534.25 million.

• Video: Grant Thornton CEOs Discuss Supreme Court’s PCAOB Case

  October 15, 2009

  Current Grant Thornton CEO Ed Nusbaum and incoming CEO Stephen Chipman talked about the Supreme Court’s upcoming hearing of a challenge to the constitutionality of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.

• Supreme Court to Hear Former Enron CEO’s Appeal

  October 14, 2009

  The Supreme Court has agreed to take up the appeal of former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling whose company perpetrated one of the largest accounting frauds in history.

• AmerInst Signs Liability Insurance Deal

  October 8, 2009

  AmerInst Insurance Group plans to offer professional liability insurance to accounting firms through an agreement with some of Crum & Forster Holdings’ insurance companies.

• Overstock.com Hit with Another SEC Subpoena

  September 21, 2009

  Online retailer Overstock.com said it has received a notice from the SEC informing the company that it is again under investigation for its financial restatements.

• Grant Thornton Wins Judgment in Parmalat Case

  September 21, 2009

  Italian dairy food producer Parmalat said it intends to appeal after a judge granted summary judgment to Grant Thornton in a lawsuit against its former auditing firm for not doing enough to prevent the company’s collapse.

• SEC Hopes to Correct Madoff Goofs

  September 10, 2009

  SEC officials testifying at a Senate Banking Committee hearing pledged to do more to investigate Ponzi schemes.

• SEC Admits Missed Opportunities in Madoff Case

  September 2, 2009

  The Securities and Exchange Commission has released the executive summary of a report from its inspector general detailing the agency’s failures to stop Bernard Madoff from carrying out his Ponzi scheme.

• Stanford Ex-CFO Pleads Guilty to Fraud

  August 27, 2009

  The former CFO of Stanford Financial Group has pleaded guilty to fraud and obstruction charges in a scheme involving the sale of $7 billion in certificates of deposit issued by the Antigua-based bank.

• Data Breaches a Worry at CPA Firms Too

  August 19, 2009

  The news this week about the massive hacking and identity theft of credit card data should raise concerns at CPA firms about how good a job they’re doing at protecting client information.

• SEC Investigates Huron Consulting

  August 11, 2009

  The Securities and Exchange Commission has begun an investigation of Huron Consulting Group after the firm’s top management stepped down amid accounting irregularities.

• Former AIG Execs to Pay $16.5M for Accounting Violations

  August 7, 2009

  Former American International Group chairman and CEO Maurice “Hank” Greenberg and former vice chairman and CFO Howard Smith have agreed to pay $15 million and $1.5 million, respectively, to settle SEC charges that they were involved in improper accounting transactions that inflated AIG’s financial results between 2000 and 2005.

• Broadway Producers Sentenced for Accounting Fraud

  August 5, 2009

  Garth Drabinsky, a theater impresario who brought “Ragtime,” “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” and a revival of “Showboat” to the Broadway stage, has been sentenced to seven years for accounting fraud.

• GE to Pay $50M to Settle Accounting Fraud Charges

  August 4, 2009

  General Electric has agreed to pay $50 million to settle Securities and Exchange Commission charges that the company reported false and misleading results in its financial statements.

• Witness Tells Senate to Crack Down on Accountant Fraud

  July 31, 2009

  The push for a “lowest common denominator” set of international accounting standards, along with the failure of Sarbanes-Oxley reforms to curb last year’s financial meltdown, are among the factors contributing to the ongoing global recession, experts in corporate governance told Congress.

• PwC Warns of Procurement Fraud Risks

  July 30, 2009

  PricewaterhouseCoopers has released a report recommending that companies do a better job of mitigating the risks of procurement fraud.

• CPA as Client Trustee

  July 28, 2009

  The family CPA is often the best choice as successor trustee of the family trust.

• Block Files Suit Against McGladrey & Pullen

  July 24, 2009

  H&R Block has filed suit against McGladrey & Pullen after M&P announced this week that it was terminating its administrative services agreement with the tax giant.

• Ernst & Young to Pay $10.2M for Negligent Audits

  July 23, 2009

  Ernst & Young will have to pay $10.2 million in damages after a Florida jury determined that the firm was negligent in its audits of the now-defunct Sovereign Bank.

• SEC Sues CSK Auto Ex-CEO under SOX Clawback

  July 23, 2009

  The Securities and Exchange Commission has asked a court to order the former CEO of CSK Auto Corp. to reimburse the automotive parts company and its shareholders more than $4 million he received in bonuses and stock sale profits while CSK was committing accounting fraud.

• AICPA Offers Privacy-Breach Insurance

  July 22, 2009

  The American Institute of CPAs is introducing liability insurance coverage to protect CPAs against the risk of privacy breaches of clients’ personal information in case the firm’s network is hacked.

• Money-Laundering Sanctions Worry Companies

  July 20, 2009

  Complying with money-laundering laws and sanctions is a major concern at many companies, according to a new survey.

• Madoff Accountant Friehling Pleads Not Guilty

  July 20, 2009

  Bernard Madoff’s former accountant David Friehling pleaded not guilty to fraud charges.

• Camico and Liberty Team on CPA Insurance

  July 14, 2009

  Camico Mutual Insurance and Liberty International Underwriters are partnering on an insurance program for CPA firms that provides coverage against malpractice claims.

• Tips on Curbing Corporate Fraud

  July 13, 2009

  Accounting firm Crowe Horwath LLP has advice on the top 10 ways that corporations can reduce occupational fraud.

• $65 Billion Stolen by Madoff? Hardly

  July 7, 2009

  Well-meaning victims, courts, the media and the public actually believe that Bernard Madoff, sentenced recently to a record 150 years in prison, stole $65 billion. Chances are that’s not even close.

• SEC Charges Ex Beazer Accounting Chief with Fraud

  July 2, 2009

  The SEC has charged the former chief accounting officer of Beazer Homes with conducting a fraudulent earnings management scheme for over five years and misleading the home builder’s outside auditors and internal accountants.

• Deloitte Tries to Help Canada Find Missing Gold

  June 30, 2009

  Deloitte & Touche has conducted a review for the Royal Canadian Mint to try to account for a $15.3 million discrepancy between a rolling inventory and a physical count of gold owned by the mint and its customers, and Goldfinger is apparently not to blame.

• Madoff Receives 150-Year Sentence

  June 29, 2009

  Former investment manager Bernard Madoff was sentenced to the maximum term of 150 years in prison for running a Ponzi scheme estimated to have totaled $65 billion.

• Finding a Cure for Medical Office Fraud

  June 23, 2009

  When I became a CPA, my father, a small-town physician, asked me to prepare his tax return.

• Stanford Indicted in $7 Billion Ponzi Scheme

  June 19, 2009

  Robert Allen Stanford, former chairman of the Stanford Financial Group, along with three other executives and an Antiguan bank regulator, have been indicted on fraud charges in connection with a multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme.

• Jury Finds BDO International Not Liable for Audits

  June 18, 2009

  A jury in Miami has found BDO International not liable for failing to uncover fraud in audits conducted by its U.S. member firm, BDO Seidman.

• Ernst & Young to Pay $109M for HealthSouth Audits

  June 17, 2009

  Ernst & Young has agreed to a record-setting $109 million nationwide settlement for failing to uncover the financial problems at health care giant HealthSouth.

• Using Social Networks for Fraud Examinations

  June 17, 2009

  Social networks like Facebook and MySpace are being used to conduct investigations to uncover fraud and identity theft, but they could also lead to those same problems.

• A Supreme Debate on the PCAOB’s Fate

  June 3, 2009

  The Supreme Court has agreed to rule on the question of whether the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board is unconstitutional, but what can we expect the justices to say?

• Cardinal Health Execs Settle SEC Charges for $245,000

  May 29, 2009

  Three former senior finance executives with medical supply company Cardinal Health have agreed to pay $245,000 in civil penalties to settle SEC charges that they engaged in a fraudulent earnings and revenue management scheme.

• SEC Charges CPA and Finance Prof with Foreign Exchange Fraud

  May 27, 2009

  The Securities and Exchange Commission has frozen the assets of Houston CPA and lawyer Daniel J. Petroski, along with a former finance professor at Texas A&M University, alleging that they bilked at least 60 investors out of more than $19.5 million in a foreign exchange trading scam.

• SEC Settles IDEA Trademark Suit with CaseWare

  May 27, 2009

  The Securities and Exchange Commission has settled a trademark dispute with CaseWare International over the use of the IDEA name for the SEC’s interactive financial statement repository.

• NACVA to Unveil Criminal Forensic Accounting Methodology

  May 21, 2009

  The National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts plans to introduce a software-based civil and criminal forensic accounting methodology next week at its annual conference.

• An Accounting Tragedy

  May 19, 2009

  Among the tragedies inflicted on thousands of victims by Bernard Madoff was that perpetrated on a tiny accounting firm in New City, N.Y., a hamlet some 30 miles north of New York City.

• Protect your asset portfolio from legal assault

  May 18, 2009

  We spend most of our working lives building and trying to turn our small businesses into larger ones, but could you survive the cost of a catastrophic loss?

• Court OKs Deloitte's BearingPoint buy

  May 18, 2009

  The U.S. Bankruptcy Court has given the go-ahead for Deloitte to acquire most of what remains of consulting firm BearingPoint's North American public services practice for $350 million.

• Supreme Court to Hear Case on PCAOB Constitutionality

  May 18, 2009

  The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case challenging the constitutionality of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.

• Forensic Accountants Reconstruct Madoff Books

  May 15, 2009

  A court-appointed trustee has hired a team of forensic accountants to recreate customer accounts as part of the liquidation of Bernard Madoff’s scandal-scarred investment management firm.

• Ex-CPA Arrested on $67M Ponzi Scheme Charges

  April 20, 2009

  Former CPA Dan Wise has been arrested and charged with operating a $67 million fraud.

• Economy, legislation threaten to impact S corps

  April 19, 2009

• IRS issues guidance for Ponzi victims

  April 19, 2009

  In the wake of several high-profile Ponzi schemes - most notably, the $65 billion fraud perpetrated by the now-jailed Bernard Madoff - the Internal Revenue Service has issued new guidance for victims of these types of schemes and their tax preparers.

• Tax strategy: Ponzi scheme guidance: More details

  April 19, 2009

  The Bernard Madoff situation is just the most notorious of dozens of Ponzi schemes that have surfaced since the current recession made it more difficult for the operators of those schemes to keep covering payouts and redemptions with money from new investors.

• The spirit of accounting: Premises, premises: Out with the old, in with the new

  April 19, 2009

  About a year ago, we began hearing a clamor that accountants exacerbated the financial debacle by reporting market values in financial statements. In turn, accountants ducked the blame by arguing strongly that the Financial Accounting Standards Board was at fault for requiring investment market values to be reported. These complaints have continued to this day.

• PwC India Auditors Charged in Satyam Case

  April 8, 2009

  Two auditors from PricewaterhouseCoopers' Indian member firm have been charged in the Satyam accounting scandal.

• BDO Partner Charged with Tax Crimes

  April 7, 2009

  A federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging a BDO Seidman partner with tax charges for attempting to help one of his clients evade income taxes.

• CPAs and Tax Preparers Charged in Methane Scam

  April 7, 2009

  The Justice Department has filed suit against four CPAs, 27 tax preparers and another individual, accusing them of promoting a tax scam that claimed bogus income tax credits for sham sales of methane from landfills.

• Practitioner Suspended for Bilking Taxpayers

  April 7, 2009

  The Internal Revenue Service has suspended an enrolled agent from practicing before the agency after his clients complained that he did little to help them settle their tax disputes.

• Madoff investors: Tax victims, too?

  April 5, 2009

  Many are surprised to learn that while it sometimes appears that the Internal Revenue Code reaches into every aspect of our lives, it lacks focus in addressing the complex tax consequences that face the unfortunate victims of Ponzi schemes.

• Tax strategy: Maximizing small-biz incentives in the Recovery Act

  April 5, 2009

  he $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (P.L. 111-5, Feb. 17, 2009) provides almost $300 billion in tax relief. As a stimulus package, the bill makes available over $280 billion in tax relief in the short term in 2009 and 2010.

• SEC Says Arizona CPA Ran $67M Ponzi Scheme

  April 6, 2009

  The Securities and Exchange Commission has revoked the license of an Arizona CPA and filed charges accusing him of running a $67 million Ponzi scheme.

• Former KPMG Execs Sentenced in Tax Case

  April 3, 2009

  Two former KPMG managers received prison terms and multimillion-dollar fines in a long-running tax shelter case.

• Accountant Arrested for UBS Tax Shelters

  April 3, 2009

  The first U.S. client of Swiss bank UBS has been arrested on tax evasion charges by federal authorities, and he's an accountant.

• IRS Employee Stole Taxpayer Identities

  March 31, 2009

  An Internal Revenue Service employee has been charged with illegally accessing IRS computers to obtain information on taxpayers and filing false tax returns in their names.

• IRS to Offer Leniency to Offshore Evaders

  March 30, 2009

  As part of its plan to generate intelligence on accountants, bankers and lawyers who help clients evade U.S. taxes by hiding money in offshore accounts, the Internal Revenue Service will grant leniency to those who volunteer to pay taxes on overseas accounts in exchange for information on who aided them in hiding the money.

• TARP Nominee Drops Out

  March 27, 2009

  Frank Brosens, a founding partner at hedge fund concern Taconic Capital Advisors, has withdrawn his nomination as overseer of the $700 billion bank bailout program.

• Prosecutors Ask for the Max for Tax Shelter Execs

  March 27, 2009

  Prosecutors maintain that two former executives of Big Four firm KPMG should be sentenced as much as 24 years in prison for their part in marketing illegal tax shelters.

• Grassley Calls on Fannie and Freddie to Justify Bonuses

  March 23, 2009

  Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, has asked Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to account for their retention bonus programs while the entities were losing money and even after they accepted taxpayer-funded bailouts.

• Judge Dismisses Suit Against Tax Software Vendors

  March 20, 2009

  A federal judge has for the second time rejected a class action lawsuit against the Free File Alliance, the group of tax software vendors who provide free software and electronic filing to low-income taxpayers.

• Ernst & Young, UBS Sued over Madoff Feeder Fund

  March 20, 2009

  Ernst & Young and Swiss bank UBS have been sued by a group of investors in Luxembourg who put money in a fund that directed 95 percent of their assets to Bernard Madoff's firm.

• IRS Wants Stanford to Pay Back Taxes

  March 19, 2009

  A federal court in Texas has ruled in favor of the Internal Revenue Service as it seeks $226.6 million worth of back taxes from Sir Allen Stanford, the banker who has been accused of defrauding investors of $8 billion.

• IRS Will Accelerate NOL Refunds Under New Provision

  March 18, 2009

  The Internal Revenue Service says that small businesses with deductions exceeding their income in 2008 can use a new net operating loss tax provision to get a refund of taxes paid in prior years. The IRS says it will work to issue refunds within 45 days or less "to the degree possible."

• Former BDO Partner Pleads Guilty in Tax Shelter Scam

  March 18, 2009

  A chartered accountant from the U.K. who served as a former board member and vice chairman at global audit firm BDO Seidman has pleaded guilty to conspiracy with tax shelter promoters while claiming roughly $1 billion in fraudulent losses.

• Madoff's Auditor Arrested

  March 18, 2009

  David Friehling, the accountant who ran the tiny auditing firm that serviced Bernard Madoff's broker/dealer firm, has been arrested and charged with securities and investment advisor fraud.

• Tax strategy: Finding the silver lining to capital losses

  March 15, 2009

  2008 was a tough year for investors and 2009 so far is shaping up to be more of the same. Nevertheless, investors should not lose sight of the value of capital losses for tax purposes.

• Man Indicted for Posing as Enrolled Agent

  March 16, 2009

  A federal grand jury has indicted a California tax preparer for claiming he was an enrolled agent with the Internal Revenue Service.

• IRS Issues Guidance For Ponzi Scheme Victims

  March 16, 2009

  Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Doug Shulman has announced guidance for Ponzi scheme victims and their tax preparers. The guidance, which Shulman emphasized is not specific to the Madoff case, is in the form of a revenue ruling and a revenue procedure.

• Tax Court Ruling in Menard Case Reversed

  March 12, 2009

  A long-standing decision against building supplies retailer Menard, in which $20 million in compensation to its founder and CEO was ruled a dividend and therefore non-deductible, has been reversed by the Seventh Circuit Court.

• Securities Settlements Down 50 Percent

  March 12, 2009

  The average settlement as a result of securities class-action litigation dropped more than 50 percent in 2008, to $31.2 million, according to a report from Cornerstone Research.

• Madoff Goes to Jail

  March 12, 2009

  Bernard Madoff pleaded guilty to 11 charges in connection with a gigantic Ponzi scheme that swindled his clients out of up to $65 billion.

• Tax Preparer Indicted for Keeping Client Refunds

  March 12, 2009

  An Arizona tax preparer has been charged with diverting thousands of dollars' worth of his clients' tax refunds to his own bank account.

• 30 Years in Jail for Attempted Hit on IRS Agent

  March 6, 2009

  A Florida man has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for hiring a hit man to murder an Internal Revenue Service employee who was auditing him and his construction business.

• AIG Sues over Taxes and is Sued for Fraud

  March 4, 2009

  American International Group, which is receiving between $152 billion and $163 billion so far in taxpayer bailout funds, has sued the federal government to recover over $306 million for 1997 taxes, penalties and interest that the insurance company claims it was illegally charged.

• Town Sues KPMG over Madoff Feeder Fund

  March 2, 2009

  The town of Fairfield, Conn., has filed a lawsuit against KPMG and an investment advisor after its employee retirement programs lost an estimated $40 million in two hedge funds that invested all their assets with Bernard Madoff.

• CPA Testimony Hits Bear Stearns with $27.4M Judgment

  February 27, 2009

  Bear Stearns & Co., the troubled investment bank acquired last year by JP Morgan Chase, has been ordered to pay $27,353,000 in damages for misrepresenting its investment strategies, after a court heard key testimony from a forensic accountant.

• Bankrupt Taxpayers Need Better Protection from IRS

  February 27, 2009

  Taxpayers' rights were violated when the Internal Revenue Service filed liens on their accounts while they were in bankruptcy, according to a new report by a government watchdog.

• Court Bars 'Tax Doctor' from Preparing Returns

  February 27, 2009

  A federal court has permanently barred a Florida tax preparer who called himself "The Tax Doctor" from doing other people's returns after he allegedly cost the Treasury at least $750,000 in bogus claims.

• Ric Rosario

  February 26, 2009

  Ric Rosario is stepping into some big shoes at Camico Mutual Insurance Co.

• UBS Sued over Revealing Bank Accounts

  February 26, 2009

  Swiss bank UBS has been sued by a group of wealthy U.S. account holders who want to keep their identities and accounts from being revealed to the Internal Revenue Service.

• Tax Return Preparer Sentenced

  February 24, 2009

  A former tax return preparer who worked from an office at a local gym has been sentenced to 24 months in prison for preparing false tax returns for customers.

• International tax: The new hunt for tax havens

  February 23, 2009

  Congressional leaders are looking to clamp down on offshore tax havens after a Government Accountability Office report found that 83 of the 100 largest publicly traded U.S. corporations have subsidiaries in jurisdictions listed as tax havens or financial privacy jurisdictions, while 63 of the 100 largest publicly traded federal contractors reported having subsidiaries in such jurisdictions.

• Maximizing cash flow by accelerating refunds or even (gasp!) preventing them

  February 23, 2009

  When every dollar counts a bit more dearly, a greater number of taxpayers are taking a closer look at ways to improve cash flow. Increasing (or at least accelerating) tax refunds for past years while lowering estimated tax and withholding payments for this year are two areas of growing interest.

• Solender Named Vice Chair, General Counsel at E&Y

  February 19, 2009

  Big Four firm Ernst & Young named former Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual executive Michael Solender as its Americas vice chair and general counsel, effective February 24.

• UBS Agrees to Reveal U.S. Tax Shelter Clients

  February 19, 2009

  Swiss bank UBS has worked out a deal with the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission to reveal the identities and account numbers of U.S. citizens who have been stashing their money in previously secret bank accounts.

• Madoff Reaches Partial Settlement with SEC

  February 9, 2009

  The Securities and Exchange Commission said that Bernard Madoff has consented to a proposed partial judgment imposing a permanent injunction on him.

• Judge Denies Dismissal of Helio Castoneves' Tax Charges

  February 6, 2009

  Race car driver and "Dancing with the Stars" champion Helio Castroneves will be facing the music after a judge denied a motion to dismiss some of the counts in his upcoming tax evasion trial.

• McGladrey Sued in Madoff Case

  February 5, 2009

  McGladrey & Pullen has been sued by a hedge fund for failing to detect red flags in Bernard Madoff's investment schemes, leading the hedge fund to lose $280 million.

• 'Girls Gone Wild' Founder Won't Go Wild Anymore

  February 5, 2009

  Girls Gone Wild founder Joe Francis was arrested after he showed up five hours late to a court hearing in his tax evasion case.

• Heavy Metal Rocker Cheated by Accountant

  February 3, 2009

  Rock guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen has won $820,000 in damages from his former accountant.

• Fake CPA Pleads Guilty to Tax Fraud

  February 3, 2009

  A woman who posed as a tax accountant and CPA has pleaded guilty to six counts of tax fraud after she prepared returns for police and firefighters.

• Tax Shelter Settlements Had Little Impact

  February 2, 2009

  The Internal Revenue Service's program for allowing "Son of Boss" tax shelter investors to settle their tax disputes often did not lead to greater taxpayer compliance, according to a new report.

• Three More Convictions in Tax Shelter Case

  February 1, 2009

• New York's Closer Scrutiny of CPAs

  February 1, 2009

• Contractor Cheated IRS on Laptop Repair Bills

  January 30, 2009

  A federal jury has awarded the government $428,532.49 in damages from a contractor who faked invoices for fixing Internal Revenue Service laptop computers.

• Deloitte Parmalat Case Ordered to Proceed

  January 29, 2009

  A New York federal court judge has ruled that Deloitte & Touche must stand trial in a class-action suit over its Italian affiliate's audits of collapsed dairy processor Parmalat.

• Accountant Charged with Stealing $1.6M to Gamble

  January 28, 2009

  Accountant David Sarnowski, 50, has been arrested for stealing $1.6 million from a law firm client to support a gambling habit.

• Tax in troubled times

  January 26, 2009

  The continuing economic slowdown means that tax preparation and tax planning will be more critical than ever, and this will be reflected in the questions that taxpayers will ask of their preparers during tax season.

• New IRS programs 'appeal' to practitioners

  January 26, 2009

  The Internal Revenue Service's announcement of two new alternative dispute programs for offer-in-compromise and trust fund recovery penalty cases comes as welcome news to practitioners who regularly practice before IRS Appeals.

• Tax strategy: Final tax return preparer regs: Some stability at last

  January 26, 2009

  On Dec. 16, 2008, the Internal Revenue Service released the long-awaited final tax return preparer regulations.

• Advisor Pleads Guilty in Tax Shelter Case

  January 26, 2009

  A former investment advisor has pleaded guilty to helping Ernst & Young market illegal tax shelters.

• Accountant Sentenced in Embezzling Scheme

  January 23, 2009

  An accountant and former attorney was sentenced to 20 months in federal prison without parole for embezzling more than $69,000 from a business client.

• Tax Preparer Sentenced to 11 Years in Prison

  January 16, 2009

  A man who operated several tax preparation businesses has been sentenced to 11 years in federal prison after he was convicted of defrauding clients and the Internal Revenue Service.

• UBS Exec Declared a Fugitive

  January 15, 2009

  Raoul Weil, the former head of Swiss bank UBS's cross-border private banking operations, was declared a fugitive by a Fort Lauderdale judge as U.S. prosecutors upped the ante in their battle against Swiss bank accounts used to shelter assets from taxation.

• Accounting Firm Targets Madoff Investors

  January 12, 2009

  Walter C. King Associates is offering tax recovery and forensic accounting services to investors who fell victim to Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme.

• Block Settles California RAL Suit for $4.85M

  January 7, 2009

  H&R Block has agreed to a $4.85 million settlement with California Attorney General Jerry Brown, and to stop marketing refund anticipation loans as early tax refunds.

• Securities Lawsuits Spiked in 2008

  January 7, 2009

  With 210 federal securities class-action lawsuits filed in 2008, the level of litigation last year was at its highest level since 2004, according to a new study.

• SEC Testifies on Madoff Investigation

  January 6, 2009

  SEC Inspector General H. David Kotz told a congressional panel that the Securities and Exchange Commission is ramping up its investigation of Bernard Madoff and his $50 billion Ponzi scheme.

• Tax strategy: A Top 10 list of 2008 developments for 2009 tax strategies

  January 5, 2009

  One technique for giving better focus to tax planning in a new year is to look back at the old one. Our column for this issue of Accounting Today uses this strategy, looking at significant 2008 tax developments from the perspective of their impact on tax planning in 2009.

• Kerik Pleads Not Guilty to Tax Charges

  January 5, 2009

  Former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik pleaded not guilty last week to tax fraud charges.

• Casino Winners' Resulting Tax Not Discriminatory Against Elderly

  January 2, 2009

  A Tax Court judge has ruled that taxes on elderly gamblers' casino winnings are not discriminatory.

• Financial Statement Services make for Big Claims

  January 1, 2009

  Financial statement services, especially those involving audits, third-party creditors, and fraud, produce the largest claims in terms of total dollar amounts incurred (severity), according to a new report from insurer Camico.

• D&T Sues Former Vice Chair

  January 1, 2009

  Deloitte & Touche has sued its former vice chairman for trading in securities of the firm's audit clients.

• Swiss Bank Executive Charged in $20 Billion Concealment

  January 1, 2009

  Raoul Weil, a senior executive of a large Swiss bank, unnamed in the indictment and described as one with offices worldwide, including the U.S. (UBS), has been charged with conspiring with other executives, managers, private bankers, and clients of the bank to defraud the U.S., the Justice Department, and the IRS.

• Trustee Recovers $29 Million from Madoff

  December 31, 2008

  The court-appointed trustee for the liquidation of Bernard Madoff's investment securities firm has received $29 million from the disgraced asset manager's bank account that he plans to distribute to defrauded investors.

• Human Nature at Work

  December 30, 2008

  In many ways, the human nature aspect of the alleged Madoff fraud and the sub-prime mortgage mess reminds me of the Enron and WorldCom debacles. It is that undesirable aspect of human nature, greed, that seems to permeate all three.

• Madoff Auditor Subpoenaed

  December 24, 2008

  David Friehling, the auditor at the tiny accounting firm that handled Bernard Madoff's books, has been subpoenaed by investigators.

• Tax Strategies Can Mitigate Madoff Losses

  December 23, 2008

  Edward Mendlowitz, a partner at accounting firm WithumSmith+Brown, outlined a series of tax strategies that could help offset the staggering losses incurred from investments with Bernard Madoff's scandal-scarred securities firm.

• Man Convicted of Plotting to Kill IRS Agent

  December 22, 2008

  A Florida man has been convicted of hiring a hit man to murder an Internal Revenue Service employee who was auditing his taxes.

• IRS Raps Doug E. Fresh with Tax Lien

  December 22, 2008

  Rap singer Doug E. Fresh is facing tax liens from the federal and state government, along with foreclosure of three homes.

• BDO Sued in Madoff Case

  December 19, 2008

  Accounting firm BDO Seidman has been sued in connection with the $50 billion Ponzi scheme run by Bernard Madoff's investment securities business, even though it wasn't Madoff's auditor.

• Three Defendants Convicted in KPMG Tax Case

  December 19, 2008

  Three of the remaining four defendants in the KPMG tax shelter case were convicted of tax evasion charges.

• Form up!

  December 15, 2008

  A completely revised Form 990 will require an overhaul of internal policies and procedures for most tax-exempt organizations, according to Joyce Underwood, director of nonprofit taxation at BDO Seidman's Institute for Nonprofit Excellence.

• In brief

  December 15, 2008

• Tax strategy: The usual temporary AMT relief - and a few surprises

  December 15, 2008

  Once again this year, the headline for the Alternative Minimum Tax is another one-year fix with no permanent solution. The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 raised the AMT exemption amount for 2008 to $69,950 for joint filers and $46,200 for single filers.

• Bank Sues Employee for Diverting $4.5 Million

  December 9, 2008

  National Penn Bank has sued a former employee and eight relatives for the $4.5 million that the bank claims was "wrongfully taken."

• Pair Indicted in $2M Dead Taxpayer Scheme

  December 9, 2008

  Two California residents have been indicted for filing over $2 million in false tax refund claims using the names and Social Security numbers of dead people, with help from a CPA.

• Man Sentenced to 210 Months for $60M Tax Fraud

  December 8, 2008

  The fourth of six defendants in a $60 million tax fraud conspiracy case has been sentenced to more than 17 years in prison for his role.

• KPMG Tax Case Not Going to Supreme Court

  December 4, 2008

  Prosecutors have decided not to appeal the dismissal of charges against 13 defendants in the KPMG tax shelter case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

• Grand Jury Indicts Four in Tax Refund Scheme

  December 3, 2008

  A federal grand jury in New York has indicted four people in a scheme to claim false income tax refunds using the identities of clients of two New York City agencies.

• Tax Attorney Pans IRS OIC Program

  December 3, 2008

  Tax attorney Roni Deutch has written an open letter to the Internal Revenue Service criticizing the agency's offer in compromise program, which is supposed to help taxpayers settle their debts.

• Man Indicted for Ramming IRS Building

  December 2, 2008

  A federal grand jury has indicted a man after he crashed a motor vehicle twice into the side of a building that contains the offices of both the Internal Revenue Service and the Small Business Administration.

• IRS Introduces Two Appeals Programs

  December 2, 2008

  The Internal Revenue Service has added two new appeals programs for taxpayers who are disputing IRS actions.

• Financial Planning Briefs

  December 1, 2008

• Recession-Proof Valuation Engagements

  December 1, 2008

  Tough economic times, a new president, and a focus on fair value accounting will increase the demand.

• Courting Clients: Parente Randolph

  December 1, 2008

  Glenn Newman is managing director of Philadelphia-based Parente Randolph's forensic accounting and litigation services practice section, a niche that, he says, "is virtually exploding!"

• KPMG Tax Shelter Defendants Want Mistrial or Dismissal

  November 26, 2008

  Lawyers representing two former KPMG executives asked a judge overseeing their trial on tax charges to declare either a mistrial or dismissal in the tax shelter case.

• IRS Agent Indicted for Tax Fraud

  November 21, 2008

  An IRS revenue agent was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport after he was indicted a few days earlier by a grand jury on charges of tax fraud and obstructing an investigation into his tax return.

• Group Appeals PCAOB Case to Supreme Court

  November 21, 2008

  An advocacy group plans to bring a case challenging the constitutionality of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board to the U.S. Supreme Court after an appeals court ruled against the plaintiffs earlier this week.

• NACVA Acquires Litigation Consulting Newsletter

  November 20, 2008

  The National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts, promoter of the Certified Valuation Analyst credential, has purchased the National Litigation Consultants Review, a newsletter that caters to testifying financial experts.

• Growing Concern with Going Concern

  November 18, 2008

  I can confidently predict that within the next six months a number of accounting firms will be named in lawsuits.

• Mark Cuban Faces Insider Trading Charges from SEC

  November 18, 2008

  The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban with insider trading charges stemming from his sale of 600,000 shares of the search engine Mamma.com.

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