Losing Millions

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Bankrupt professional athletes are a sad fixture on the sports scene, and they may or may not mess up more often than the average person who earns a lot of money really fast.  However, their troubles seem outsize because of their fame and the pathetic schemes they fall for. The stakes are particularly high for… Read more »

The Delmonte Deal in the News

Posted by & filed under Accounting Principles, Advanced Accounting, All Articles, Auditing, Cost Accounting, Financial Accounting, Financial Reporting and Analysis, Financial Statement Analysis, Fraud Accounting, IFRS, Intermediate Accounting, International Accounting, Managerial Accounting, Uncategorized, Video Updates.

Del Monte and Barclays Capital said on Oct. 6 they had agreed to pay $89.4 million to Del Monte shareholders to settle a lawsuit that alleged conflicts of interest in last year’s $5.3 billion buyout of the company by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Vestar Capital and Centerview Partners. The case centered on Barclays advising Del Monte… Read more »

Food – Beautiful – Food!

Posted by & filed under Accounting Principles, Advanced Accounting, All Articles, Auditing, Cost Accounting, Financial Accounting, Financial Reporting and Analysis, Financial Statement Analysis, Fraud Accounting, IFRS, Intermediate Accounting, International Accounting, Managerial Accounting, Uncategorized, Video Updates.

Have you ever wondered how restaurant chains get the food to look so good on TV?  This is the work of a micro-niche of advertising.  While you may not know the names of the directors, like your favorite movie, there are five or six major players in this industry that fill the $4 billion in… Read more »

Fraudulent Billing Caught by Whistleblower

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Maxim Healthcare Services, a privately held company with 360 offices nationwide offering home health care services, has agreed to pay about $150 million to settle civil and criminal charges over claims of false billings to Medicaid and the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Justice announced Monday. Questions: 1. Since 2009, how many current… Read more »

The Greedy Boyfriend

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This week an action was filed by the SEC against Toby Scammell.  The filing centers on the acquisition of Marvel Entertainment, Inc. by the Walt Disney Company, which was announced on August 31, 2009. Prior to the acquisition, Mr. Scammell lived with his girlfriend in Los Angeles. During that period she was an extern at… Read more »

Family Week for SEC Actions (sort of)

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Clayton Peterson, a member of the board of directors and chairman of the audit committee of Mariner Energy, Inc., and his son Drew Peterson, who worked as an investment adviser in Denver, Colorado, pleaded guilty to criminal insider trading charges and were named as defendants in an SEC suit. Clayton Peterson learned at board meetings… Read more »

Barry Minkow UPDATE

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Barry Minkow, a sixteen year old wonder-boy of Wall Street in 1983 created ZZZ Best as a carpet cleaning and later insurance restoration business.  He took the company public in 1986, making him the youngest CEO of a public company and had a net worth exceeding $100 million at age 21.  The only problem was… Read more »

OK, tell me again, how is this NOT a prosecutable felony?

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In late June 2004, a plant manager in charge of a Mexican plant of Tyson Foods sent a memo to his headquarters in Springdale, Arkansas about 2 women who did not work for Tyson’s but were being paid from his payroll, the equivalent of $2,700 per month (and had been for years). The women happened to… Read more »

KPMG in the News

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Although KPMG LLP, one of the “Big Four” accounting firms, a former female Senior Manager, Donna Kassman, filed a $350 million class action discrimination lawsuit against the company on June 2, since the numbers tell a different story entirely. Women comprise about half of KPMG’s employees, but are conspicuously absent from the top leadership positions…. Read more »

Not too squeaky clean

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A suit called GSP Finance LLC v. KPMG LLC was filed on March 29 with GPS alleging that KPMG “was well aware of the desperate financial condition of Hicks Sports” — specifically, the Texas Rangers and Dallas Stars — when it was hired to conduct the ’08 audit. The suit says Hicks Sports Group suffered… Read more »