Accounting fraud

The crazy news out of Valeant continued this morning with a wild press release announcing, among other things, that Chief Executive Officer J. Michael Pearson is going to leave, but not yet, and that the board asked former Chief Financial Officer Howard Schiller to resign from the board, "but Mr. Schiller has not done so."

Audit firm policies designed to protect whistleblowers against retaliation for reporting wrongdoing could backfire and make potential tipsters even more fearful of the possible consequences, according to a new academic study.

Toshiba Corp. is under investigation by the U.S. over allegations that it hid $1.3 billion in losses at its nuclear power operations, according to two people familiar with the matter. Shares plunged in Tokyo.

A former accounting manager at air conditioning maker Carrier Corporation was sentenced to 12 months in prison for his role in an insider embezzlement scheme.

John Raspante of NAPLIA explains in this video why failing to detect fraud is such a common claim in malpractice lawsuits against accountants and how to protect your firm against it.

A pair of Democrats have introduced legislation in Congress to expand protections for financial whistleblowers to close some loopholes in the Dodd-Frank Act that have been exploited by some employers.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged Marrone Bio Innovations, a pesticide company, and its former chief operating officer, with inflating financial results to meet projections it would double revenues in its first year as a public company.

Under the Whistleblower Program, the SEC must make monetary awards to eligible individuals who voluntarily provide the Commission with original information about a violation of the federal securities laws that has occurred, is ongoing, or is about to happen.

An internal whistleblower could collect up to $24 million of the $80 million penalty imposed by the Securities and Exchange Commission against agribusiness giant Monsanto.

The Securities and Exchange Commission said Tuesday that St. Louis-based agribusiness Monsanto Company has agreed to pay an $80 million penalty and retain an independent compliance consultant to settle charges that it violated accounting rules and misstated company earnings pertaining to its flagship product Roundup.

South America’s regional soccer body Conmebol, which has lost its last three presidents under the cloud of a global corruption scandal, is inviting forensic accountants to investigate its business affairs since 2011.

A filmmaker is suggesting a new way to avoid skirmishes over notoriously dubious Hollywood accounting.

(Bloomberg) Michael Oxley, the former U.S. congressman who co-sponsored the landmark Sarbanes-Oxley Act has died, age 71.

(Bloomberg) It’s too early to tell whether Star Wars: The Force Awakens will become the biggest grossing film of all time, but the really interesting question is whether the movie will ever go into profit.

Akebono Brake Industry Co. has become the latest addition to a series of corporate scandals in Japan, cutting earnings forecasts and executive pay after confirming problematic accounting of sales to distributors.

The Securities and Exchange Commission suspended five accountants and two audit firms Thursday from practicing or appearing before the SEC after they violated rules designed to preserve the integrity of the financial reporting system.

Japan’s Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission recommended fining Toshiba Corp. about 7.37 billion yen ($60 million) for falsifying earnings, the largest financial penalty ever sought by the watchdog.

Litigation against accounting firms appears to have subsided for now, according to one legal expert, but is showing signs of reviving as the Securities and Exchange Commission turns its attention back to accounting and audit enforcement cases.

A partner at a New York CPA firm has pleaded guilty to participating in a multimillion-dollar accounting fraud scheme.

Interim CEOs engage in considerably more earnings manipulation than their permanent successors, according to a new study.