Author: Caleb Newquist

Founding editor, Going Concern.

Søren Hansen Is Another Golfer Who Is a Cheater; But He’s a Tax Cheater

Since golf is a sport (?) that some of you engage in, you’ll be interested to know that Søren Hansen, the Danish linkster, may be going to jail for tax fraud.

He’s not banging everything that moves or shilling for an accounting firm, he just hates taxes. Just like you!

Hansen owes the Danes 9.6 million kroner which is about $1.75 million. That puts him a shade below Nas tax trouble.


Denmark is claiming that Hansen is a resident but he says that he kicks it in Monaco 24/7. Apparently he summers up in the motherland so this thing is a toss-up at best. If he’s found guilty of failing to pay the taxes he could wind up paying a fine of 10 million kroner and “an unspecified prison term”.

We don’t have any idea what a Danish prison would be like although we’re sure it’s rotten.

Fraud police ready to jail golfer [Copenhagen Post]

Stephen Chipman Managed to Not Stop By Going Concern HQ While He Was in New York

This week in Stephen Chipman blog dissection, we learned that SC had another week full of travel, although he managed to resist the temptation to head back to Atlanta for the third straight week. It was typical back-slapping, glad-handing wily CEO shenanigans in Chi-town including a little chat with Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Kurt Campbell. “Dr. Campbell recounted a wonderful story of his very first diplomatic event with Secretary Clinton at Blair House — entertaining a senior Chinese delegation.”

Yeah. He leaves you hanging. Our guess is that Hil was telling Bill jokes and/or doing armpit fart noises but it’s all a mystery because Stephen changes the subject entirely. C’mon man! You can’t do that!


Anyway it and then on to DC for a speech IFRS and why it’s on the road to nowhere in the US of A:

I had been invited to be the after-dinner speaker for the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) Board of Directors meeting. Although I feared the impossible expectation of being a “rousing, after-dinner” speaker on the topic of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), interest was high on the eve of the SEC’s highly anticipated announcement of plans to move forward with their Roadmap for IFRS adoption in the United States.

We’re continually impressed with Steve’s ability to throw in the dry humor, although we suggest dropping the unnecessary quotation marks. Definitely would read more deadpan. If you’re not familiar with the phenomenon of unnecessary quotation marks, you’re probably an abuser.

Moving on…

Chiparoo then trekked up to the City where he talked more about IFRS with the Center of Audit Quality, “The lively conversation focused on the SEC’s announcement regarding further clarification on their Roadmap.” And by that he means everyone there is pissed that the SEC is perfectly happy to drag this thing out.

Post-IFRS chat, SC met up with Ed Nusbaum and they did some MSM hopping, “I met up with Ed Nusbaum and Grant Thornton’s Director of Corporate Communications John Vita for a media tour. Ed is a veteran with the press, but press junkets are relatively new for me. We spoke to reporters at Bloomberg, Fox News, the Wall Street Journal and Thomson Reuters.”

Okay, we’re a little hurt by this. Sure we work remotely but would it have killed you to stop by Steve and leave a note? GCHQ might not have the fancy confines of the WSJ or the ‘Berg but we’d make you guys comfortable as possible. Plus there’s always stimulating conversation. Or just simple call saying “Sorry we couldn’t make it. Next time!” just to get our hopes up.

While we’re still getting over this little slight, we’ll just mention that Steve’s blog, to our knowledge, doesn’t have a name. We’ll take the weekend to mull over this but in the meantime, if you’ve got suggestions, feel free to share.

Caring for A Sick Parent Is Not an Excuse for Filing a Tax Return Late, Especially if You’re a Tax Attorney

SO! We’ve been feeling sorry for the IRS lately because well, people HATE the Service. It’s cases like these that might, just might, cause some people to flip their lid.

Kevin Kilduff, one of the “most highly regarded” tax attorneys in Boston was suspended from practicing before the IRS for 48 months by Treasury Secretary’s Appellate Authority after he appealed an administrative law judge’s (“ALJ”) decision to suspend him for just 24 months. The complaint was filed by the Office of Professional Responsibility who oversees CPAs, EAs and attorneys who practice before the Service

From the decision of the ALJ, “The Complaint alleges Respondent failed to timely file Federal tax returns for the tax years 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005, and failed to file a tax return for tax year 2002.”


Considering the fact that Mr Kilduff used to work at the IRS and since leaving has represented many clients before the Service, so you would expect he would have a good story.

Annnnnnd he did . Two-fold: 1) “[The] matter was instituted as a personal vendetta against him by Revenue Officer 1 because of his “zealous” representation of a client in dealing with Revenue Officer 1, the IRS agent in the case.” and 2) “his mother was diagnosed with Illness 1 and he quit his job in Philadelphia and moved to Boston and moved in with his parents to care for his mother, and remained with them for the next five years. During this period, he and his sister cared for their parents, cooking and taking them to doctor appointments”

Judge Joel Biblowitz, was sympathetic to Mr Kilduff’s situation (re: sick Mom) but was impressed with his attitude (emphasis original):

Throughout the course of this matter, I was struck by the Respondent’s apparent disinterest in, or lack of respect for, this proceeding…In his response, the Respondent stated: “I am happy to provide your office with copies of these tax returns if it is necessary,” although he did not do so. It appears to me that if he truly took the IRS’ complaint seriously, he would have responded immediately after receiving Whitlock’s October 11, 2006 letter and would have sent him a copy of his 2002 Federal tax return, rather than waiting almost four months before responding and offering to provide the return.

Mr Kilduff also didn’t respond to the Judge Biblowitz’s order to notify the OPR of his witnesses and exhibits in his case. Just plain ignored it. If we know anything about judges, it’s that you don’t ignore them.

I find that neither defense has merit. While I can sympathize with the Respondent and his obligations and sacrifices during this period, the record establishes that during the period encompassing tax years 2000 through 2005 he was employed full time for a major laws firm with yearly adjusted gross income ranging from $102,000 to $138,000. Further, while he had obligations caring for his parents during this period, it is difficult to imagine that he could not find the time to prepare and timely file these returns.

IRS Wins 48-Month Suspension of a Lawyer for Failing to File His Own Tax Return and Late Filing [IRS.gov]
Also see:
IRS Suspends One of Boston’s ‘Most Highly Regarded’ Tax Lawyers for 48 Months for Failing to File Tax Returns [TaxProf Blog]
Tax Attorney Suspended from Practicing Before IRS [Web CPA]

Accounting News Roundup: Alaska Union Criticizes Lost Data Deal with PwC; Levin Appointed to Ways & Means Chair; E&Y Received £35m in Audit Fees from BP | 03.05.10

• First things first: Don’t forget that it’s National Employee Appreciation Day 2010. [GC]

• Public employees union criticizes data loss deal [AP via CNBC]
Remember how PricewaterhouseCoopers lost the records of 77,000 Alaska public employees and retirees? PwC, trying to be a standup corporate citizen, took responsibility for the slip-up and promised those affected all kinds of stuff including identity theft protection, credit moty freezes. Hell, they said they would even reimburse any losses that occurred due to identity theft.

Shockingly, that wasn’t good enough for some people. The Alaska State Employees Association is pretty bent out of shape about the deal the state took and wants them to go back and get more. MORE. MORE!

Specifically, it wants the affected people to be automatically enrolled into the firm’s credit protection services, instead of being required to opt-in. The union also questioned why those services will only be available for a minimum of two years, though consequences of the data loss may pop up long after the services expire.

“We think that’s shortsighted to put a two-year period on it,” said union business manager Jim Duncan. “It doesn’t adequately protect our members or retirees.”

Alaska’s Department of Law is perfectly okay with the deal and if they could have gotten P. Dubs to give everyone lifetime guarantees, by God, they would have. But it wasn’t in the cards, “[Assistant attorney general Ed Sniffen] characterized it as a generous settlement that the Department of Law is pleased with. And unless new information indicates the parties weren’t negotiating in good faith, renegotiation is unlikely.”

Besides, if an employee becomes an identity theft victim, they can still sue PwC for damages. And that’s really what this country is all about; the ability to blame someone else and sue their ass.

• Levin To Chair Tax-Writing Ways And Means Panel [AP via NPR]
Representative Sander M. Levin (D-MI) will serve as the new Chair of the House Ways & Means Committee after Charlie Rangel gave up the Chairmanship under pressure for ethics violations.

Mr Levin represents the 12th district in Michigan and has served in Congress since 1982 and is the older brother of Senator Carl Levin (D-MI).

Levin takes the gavel after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi initially appointed Pete Stark of California. It’s entirely possible that Speaker Pelosi realized that Mr Stark might not be the most diplomatic member of the House; he has a history of just saying whatever comes to mind like:

• Calling Rep. Nancy Johnson (R-CT) a “whore for the insurance industry.”

• Arguing with Rep. Scott McInnis (R-CO): “You think you are big enough to make me, you little wimp. Come over here and make me, I dare you. You little fruitcake.”

• That former President George W. Bush was amused by soldiers getting their heads blown off in Iraq.

Among other things.

• BP pays E&Y £54m in fees [Accountancy Age]
Now before you start screaming about the money, you should know that the fees are actually down significantly from the last two years. In ’08 E&Y got £67m and £75m in ’07. Beyond Petroleum says they’re doing things more efficiently in the ‘audit process’ and reducing tax and other services. See? Tough times all around.

Hotel Doesn’t Like Being Duped by a Phony IRS Agent; Manages a Nonviolent Response

About a month ago we briefly mentioned Sheryl Lynn Vertoch who had been “staying at the Inn Marin Hotel in Novato, California for over seven years telling the staff there that she was an IRS agent.” Her cover was blown, not by hotel pool boys turned crack-squad investigators, but by the hotel calling the IRS to complain about their lack of support for this public servant that worked on important cases such as Enron.

Probably feeling a tad sheepish, the hotel is firing back by suing SLV for the $55,175.25 that she owes the hotel.


The hotel, being very thorough of its records (but not necessarily multi-year guests) attached a 24 page invoice to show the charges that Vertoch racked up for “guest fees, expenses and pet charges” from January 21, 2008, to January 26, 2010.

Somehow the hotel’s management/owners/lawyers came to the conclusion that A) the actual IRS wasn’t the cause of the problem and B) the use of a plane, bulldozer or firearm were simply not the best course of action.

Personally, we’re shocked but at the same time relieved that there is a sliver of sanity left in this country.

Novato hotel wants IRS imposter to pay $55,000 tab [Mercury News]
Earlier:
Phony IRS Agent Racks Up $55k Hotel Bill

Former Andersen CEO: Greed Brought Down Firm

Retired Andersen CEO and Managing Parter, Duane Kullberg was part of a panel discussion that went on at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin this week where he was the featured speak on the “The Rise and Fall of Arthur Andersen”.

Mr Kullberg was part of a panel that included our friendJim Peterson of Re:Balance and Bill Goodman, President of Schneck SC, a firm with offices throughout Wisconsin that also discussed the future of the audit profession.


Mr Kullberg served as the Andersen CEO from 1980 to 1989 but “the profit-driven company culture in the 1990s, that valued sales more highly than the ethically rigorous auditing practices that built the accounting firm,” was ultimately brought the firm down.

The greed came from the development of the consulting business that became a signficant part of Andersen’s business during the 1980s:

By the time Kullberg took the reins, Andersen was an international player, increasingly involved in providing consulting services. By 1988, it was the largest consulting firm worldwide, deriving 40 percent of earnings from that side of the business.

That brought growing demand for greater independence and a bigger piece of the money pie from partners on the consulting side, while those on the tax-audit side militated against revising the company’s historic approach to treating all partners as financial equals.

So the seeds for the firm’s demise were planted long ago and it was due, dare we say, partners that were jealous over the booming consulting side of the house. After Kullberg split the consulting from the audit/tax the feuding got bad and lawyers got involved. Then the bright idea of rebirthing the consulting business within the audit/tax firm came about:

Under Kullberg, two operating units were created: Arthur Andersen, the tax-audit/accounting group, and Andersen Consulting, both under Andersen Worldwide, each under its own managing partner.

The equal compensation system also was revised, with funds being set aside to reward individual partners and teams of partners for superior performance.

Fissures widened dramatically in 1997 when Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) won an arbitration against Andersen Worldwide and broke off on its own after the tax-audit group set up its own competing consulting service

“All of a sudden, they went back into the arena of business consulting. It was untenable,” Kullberg said.

The rest of this story is well-known. If not, there’s a play coming out this spring. That should catch you up.

Accounting for greed [Kenosha News]
Carthage welcomes Duane R. Kullberg [Carthage College]

Luxembourg Court Ruling Nullifies Madoff Investors’ Claims Against Ernst & Young, UBS

Of course the investors are appealing but one win at at time, amiright?

The suits were filed in the fall by investors who lost millions in the LuxAlpha Sicav-American Selection fund which had 95% of its fund invested with Bernie Madoff. The fund claims that it had $1.4 billion in net assets a month prior to Madoff’s arrest.


UBS acted as the custodian while E&Y was the auditor and were sued for “seriously neglecting” their supervisory duties for the fund. Investors in the fund filed more than 100 lawsuits against the two companies.

Luxembourg’s commercial court said in a ruling today concerning 10 test cases that investors can’t bring individual lawsuits for damages. The court said it’s up to the liquidators of the funds that invested with Madoff to seek the “recovery of the capital assets.”

In other words, UBS and E&Y, you’re going to get sued by Irving Picard de Luxembourg rather than 100+ pissed off individuals whose life savings went *poof*. Setting legal precedent aside, taking emotion of the equation works wonders for making an argument.

UBS, Ernst & Young Win Bid to Block Madoff Lawsuits [Bloomberg BusinessWeek]

Earlier:
Ernst & Young Is Thankful for Lawyers, Possibly Toblerones

More Sue Sachdeva Fallout: Koss Resigns as Strattec Audit Committee Chair; Grant Thornton Dismissed as Auditor

The Sue Sachdeva wrecking ball continues to do damage as we learn today that Michael Koss has resigned as the audit committee chair of Strattec Security Corp. Oh, and Strattec also dismissed Grant Thornton from its audit duties for the Company, saying that “[it] decided to consolidate all of its outside accounting/auditing work with Deloitte”.

And yesssss, Michael Koss resigned, at least in part, due to the uesay achdevasay tealinsay oneymay:

David Zimmer, Strattec’s new audit committee chairman, said the problems at Koss Corp. played a role in Michael Koss’ decision to step down as the committee chair at Strattec. He said audit committee chair is a demanding and time-consuming job. “Everyone has to evaluate how much time they have to spend on things,” Zimmer said.

So in other words, you’re saying that Mr Koss, who by all accounts wasn’t spending any time keeping an eye on his own company, can’t be expected to serve as the audit committee chair of this company since it’s kinda sorta an important position. We get that.

As for GT, Pat Hansen, Strattec’s CFO said that this was something the Company was ‘mulling’ over anyway and that the Koss fiasco and the timing of this dismissal were ‘more coincidental’. Okay but it the made the decision a helluva lot easier, didn’t it?

And the Sue trainwreck rumbles on…

Koss resigns as audit committee chair at Strattec [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
Recent Koss/Sue Sachdeva News:
Koss Sues AMEX for Sachdeva Spending Spree
Koss: Financial Results Will Be Better Now That the Whole Fraud Thing Is Over

Grant Thornton Is on This National Employee Appreciation Day Thing

So, servants of the capital markets, how’s the motivation? Stable? Critical? Grave? Whatever your condition, if you work at Grant Thornton, you’ll be happy to know that there’s a chance (somewhere between slim and good) that you’ll receive a little token of appreciation tomorrow:


Exciting, right? We’re not sure these GT e-cards are of the erotic variety but that would definitely be a great show of apprect have the self-control to forward it to your non-GT address and wait to check it at home so you don’t end up like some people.

Turns out National Employee Appreciation Day has dropping on the first Friday in March since 1995 but we’ll be damned if we’d ever heard of such a thing. Is there some coordinated effort among accounting firms, large and small, to keep this thing as quiet as possible? It’s busy season after all; the close proximity to deadlines should be appreciation enough.

Anyway, Recognition Professionals International put this together back in the Clinton days and presumably it’s been a hit because, well, it’s still going on. Jump over to the website however, and you’ll find out that they have far bigger ideas that just e-cards:

Recognition can take a hundred forms and variations. Here are just a few ideas:

1. Ask an employee to write down six ways they would like to be rewarded. Anything goes. The only rule is that half the ideas need to be low cost or no cost.

2. Schedule lunch dates with employees. Give them an opportunity to select the luncheon site, and use the time to simply get to know them better.

3. Offer a free one-year subscription to an employee’s favorite business magazine and have it sent to their home.

4. Consider a gift certificate entitling an employee to lunch with you or another mentor of his/her choosing for the purpose of being coached on one or more topics.

5. Offer a shopping spree to a local supply store for an employee to get items (no staplers or paper clips allowed) to personalize his/her office or cubicle.

6. Give the gift of wellness. Have a limousine pick up an employee for a full day at a spa. Give gift coupons for ballroom dance, yoga or golf lessons.

7. Give a fun-loving employee a series of On your mark-get set-GO cards that they can redeem at their discretion. For example: Leave work early to go to a movie, or shopping, or play ball.

8. Send a handwritten note of thanks for the completion of a job well done.

9. If an employee stays late/goes above and beyond to complete a project, send the employee and his/her partner to a nice dinner.

10. Purchase a company “toy” your employees would most enjoy; a cappuccino machine, dart board, volleyball court, exercise room.

Now judging by this list, it appears that GT looked through these and thought, “Number 1 could be taken advantage of in ways that could get the firm in trouble (wink-wink, nudge-nudge) and the rest of these involve spending money. With the exception of number eight!”

So an idea was born. GT e-cards. Here’s hoping that you all get an inbox full of these because A) you deserve them and B) the better the odds are that someone will forward it on to us so that we may take a gander and then share it with everyone. If you don’t receive a GT e-card (or anything for that matter), then you have every right to go postal on whoever you damn well please.