Going Concern

Fraud

Was Koss Fraud Made Possible by Incestuous Management?

Caleb Newquist
January 11, 2010

Maybe! If you figure an incestuous management team is a clueless management team, the argument can certainly be made. How else could Sue Sachdeva hold garage sales at her desk without anyone noticing? This went on for five years:

How is it that nobody noticed $5 million missing each year when the company’s net income is about $5 million? I mean, the business of “stereo headsets” isn’t really a complex business model. There’s revenue, cost of sales, and expenses. How do you somehow manage to hide $5 million when expenses are only $10 million … and cost of sales is $25 million?
The answer becomes clear when you look at the company’s management team. Michael Koss is the company’s CEO. He’s also the company’s vice chairman, president, COO, and CFO. The company’s VP of sales is, that’s right, John Koss. Together they own 65 percent of the company’s stock. Another Koss, John Jr., owns 8 percent of the company’s stock. Who knows how many other Kosses there are scattered about the place. No checks and balances there. No hands on the wheel, either.

Sooo, the question becomes: Should Grant Thornton have noticed this sleepy management oversight? Did Michael Koss just give them the “I involved in every aspect of the business so there’s nothing to worry about” story and GT just bought it? Discuss.
The Problem with Incestuous Management [The Corner Office/Steve Tobak]

Glenn Beck, Who Doesn’t Hesitate to Point Out Other People’s Tax Problems, Had Some of His Own

Caleb Newquist
January 11, 2010

Since he’s such a passionate guy, Glenn Beck will not hesitate to call someone out if he feels that they are cheating the American people. He’s a crusader for justice, after all.
For example, Tim Geithner, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Tom Daschle, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis and others were all called “tax cheats” by GB early last year and he also mentioned that he wouldn’t entrust his children to them (nice touch).
So it’s more than a little awkward for Becks when Politico reports that Mercury Radio Arts, his production company, has had some of its own tax troubles:

Mercury, a private corporation that lists Beck as chief executive officer and his wife, Tania Beck, alternately as vice president or secretary, since 2007 has fallen behind on its New York City business income taxes and has been cited for filing errors related to its obligations under Texas franchise tax and New York state workers’ compensation insurance rules.

Politico reports that the company owed just over $25k in back taxes and penalties but since everything has been cleared up it’s NBD. However, we do seem to have a little bit of a pot and kettle situation. What’s even more stupid is that everyone is all bent out of shape over these people screwing up their taxes even though no one was willfully trying to dodge the tax law:

Dean Zerbe, national managing director for a company called alliantgroup that provides specialty tax services to accounting firms, said Beck’s situation “has the look and feel of somebody who is confronting an extraordinarily complicated tax situation — or at least the people he’s hired to do these things are — and is trying to comply but isn’t doing everything perfectly.”
The same, however, could be said of most of the Obama nominees Beck has blasted for tax problems, said Zerbe, who called them “people who were trying to comply with the spirit and the intent of the law.”

As it has been mentioned, our tax system is complicated and that’s putting it lightly. The fact that all these people made mistakes doesn’t go so much to anything about them as Americans as it does the tax system being a giant shitshow. So if that is indeed the case, does this mean that all this name calling and finger pointing is politically motivated? GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE.
What if it’s Beck with a tax ‘accident’? [Politico]

KPMG

Tim Flynn Speaking at the KPMG Town Hall Meeting Circa Now

Caleb Newquist
January 11, 2010

Our understanding is that T Fly is rallying the New York troops this morning so if he says anything worth noting (e.g. “I’m leaving the firm to become the next Treasury Secretary“), be sure to get in touch with us or discuss below.
We’re not sure if he’ll be giving pep talks to other offices so if you’re in not in New York and you’ve got TF on the docket, keep us updated.

Preliminary Analytics

Preliminary Analytics | 01.11.10

Caleb Newquist
January 11, 2010

• Geithner Had No AIG Role, Says Official – Said official is Tom Baxter, General Counsel of the New York Fed. TB says that the situation ‘did not warrant the attention’ of TG. End of story. Darrell Issa isn’t buying what Bax is selling and has invited him to speak on the Hill about it later this month. Set the DVR. [WSJ]
• Geithner Has Support of Obama, Democratic Lawmakers, Aides Say – Until he doesn’t have it, which could be any day now. [Bloomberg]
• Banks Brace for Bonus Fury – “Critics of Wall Street firms are grumbling that this year’s bonuses are far too generous. But some recipients are none too happy, either: They’re complaining too much of the payout is coming in stock instead of cash.” [WSJ]
• Investor Alwaleed says Citigroup “on right path” – As long as his highness is convinced, there’s no reason the rest of us shouldn’t feel better. [Reuters]
• Did you donate for tax breaks? IRS wants proof – Such a bunch of sticklers. [CT]

Fraud

Sam Antar Wants You to Think Like a Crook

Caleb Newquist
January 10, 2010

In early December, the JDA gave us a little taste of how the mind of a crook works when she interviewed Sam Antar, the former CFO of Crazy Eddie’s.
We caught up with Sam again recently and in case you had decided that he had redeemed himself by speaking to universities, government agencies, and businesses telling those people how to detect fraud, Sam would take issue with that.
“I’m the same crook that I was when I was the CFO of Crazy Eddie’s. I haven’t changed. I got caught,” Sam told us. Sam doesn’t believe in redemption but he will tell you that he’s reformed, “A criminal is like an addict. You’re either in recovery or you’re not.”
In addition to his feelings on his past criminal behavior, Sam has strong opinions about the audit profession and how the current accounting curriculum does not adequately prepare young auditors for the masterminds they’re up against. “To catch a criminal, you’ve got to think like a criminal.”

Sam would never suggest that you all take a turn at white collar crime in order to become better auditors. That would disappoint your parents.
So what are his ideas? Here’s a few things to get you started:
• Sam believes that the current curriculum should be expanded to include criminology, criminal psychology, forensic accounting, and courses that focus on internal controls.
• With this expanded curriculum, an advanced degree program should be implemented for those students that wish to become CPAs.
• In addition, Sam believes that the CPA exam should be expanded to include a section dedicated to fraud.
We did some looking around and found that two schools: Carlow University in Pittsburgh and Franklin University in Columbus, OH both offer undergraduate degrees in Forensic Accounting and that two more: St. Thomas University in Florida and University of Charleston in South Carolina offer graduate degrees.
As long as white collar fraud remains front page news, there will be people asking “where were the auditors?” Right or wrong, that is the reality of the situation. You can fight it tooth and nail but ultimately the market will demand more forensic audits for high risk clients. Even if the odds of you finding a single fraudulent transaction in your entire career is nil, shouldn’t you be prepared for that chance?
Sam thinks so. And he convinced (or maybe just conned?) us. You still got it, Sam.
Photo by Buck Ennis for Crain’s New York and Investment News.

Review Comments

Review Comments | 01.08.10

Caleb Newquist
January 9, 2010

• Tim Geithner Will Be Fired After The November Elections – Some say sooner. Takers? [Clusterstock/John Carney]
• Accounting Loses 2,600 Jobs in December – “Off 42,200 since recession began, according to today’s BLS estimates.” [CPA Trendlines]
• Steve Schwarzman Will Cut A Bitch Who Gets In Between Him And His Rom-Coms – SS would not be denied from perfect seating for It’s Complicated. [DB]
• NYC Stuyvesant Town complex misses payment – Doomed. [Reuters]

Fraud

Unfounded Rumor of the Day: Fired Koss VP Had Garage Sales at Her Desk

Caleb Newquist
January 9, 2010

Or something like that. Guest 28 put it out there that Sue Sachdeva was flipping those designer threads to fellow employees for low low prices.
On the one hand, maybe the two employees on leave that worked for Suze were the bargain shoppers. On the other, how hard up for extra money was this woman? Maybe she just wore it out once with the tags on and said “I don’t love it”? Can anyone in the Milwaukee area that hasn’t already gone to happy hour confirm this? Get on the horn.

Who Wants to Buy Nic Cage’s Haunted House?

Caleb Newquist
January 9, 2010

‘Cause the man is in a bit of a pinch. As you may recall, he’s got a small lien out there to the tune of $6.2 mil and his ex-girlfriend is suing him for and additional $13 mil.
The latest problem is that NC owes $128,000 in back taxes on a house in Rhode Island. All of this would be NBD if someone out there would step it up and take one — just one! — of his homes off his hands:

Among the properties he has been selling are three castles in Bavaria, Germany, and Bath and Somerset, England, as well as Dean Martin’s former mansion in Bel Air, Calif. Also on sale are novelist Anne Rice’s former home in New Orleans and a New Orleans mansion described as the “most haunted house in the United States.” Other properties on the block include homes in New York and Las Vegas, and a 132-foot yacht.

You figure the Anne Rice place would fly off the market what with the vampire craze and all but NOOOOOOO, you’re all too cheap. If this man is forced into bankruptcy and shunned by the Hollywood community, we will all be deprived of the next edition of the National Treasure franchise. Is that what you want?

The DOJ Is Not Waiting to Weed Out Sketchy Tax Preparers

Caleb Newquist
January 9, 2010

Earlier this week we learned that the hammer will be coming down on small tax prep shops.
Despite the news of the fresh measures, that didn’t prevent the DOJ from getting some of the riffraff off the streets this week.
Web CPA:

On the heels of the IRS’s plan to begin regulating tax preparers, the Justice Department announced that it has filed six lawsuits this week to stop preparers charged with generating fraudulent income tax returns.
The cases included five civil injunction lawsuits in Detroit, Cincinnati and Chicago filed against several individuals and their tax preparation services. However, the trend didn’t start this week. In December, the government filed a civil injunction suit against 12 individuals and entities in Providence, R.I.

Long/short: thousands of tax returns were falsified by throwing all kinds of deductions on the returns that couldn’t be substantiated including cash donated to The Human Fund and bogus business expenses.
As Joe noted on Wednesday, it’s difficult to reason that even after the new requirements are in place, some of the more dodgy tax preparers won’t slip through the cracks. Consumers dumbfounded by our mind-job of a tax code will continue to going to shiesty 1040 jockeys that will promise low fees and bigger refunds. Ultimately they’ll pay more in the long run.
Justice Department Cracks Down on Tax Preparers [Web CPA]

Big 4

The GC Metaphor Challenge

Caleb Newquist
January 9, 2010

Yesterday we shared with you at least one person’s opinion about how quitting the Big 4 is a little like leaving Ike Turner. If that name doesn’t mean anything to you, insert Jon Gosselin. Get it now?
As accurate as that may be (and certainly not a laughing matter), we can’t help but think there are other metaphors that you’ve heard that you might want to share here.
Of course there’s the proverbial pimp/whore relationship but that’s played. Get the team together and come up with something good. We’ve got E&Y tchotchkes to give away as prizes (don’t let that dissuade you E&Y peeps, we’ll come up with something).
We’ll give you a couple of options to work with:
1. Working in the Big 4 is like…
2. Leaving the Big 4 is like…
Annnd go.

Career Center

Job of the Day: Ready to Roll Up the Sleeves at Fortress?

Caleb Newquist
January 8, 2010

That’s part of the “skills required” for their Senior Accountant position that they just created. Since most of you are used to that sort of thing, landing this gig should be a snap.
Get the details after the jump.

Company: Fortress Investment Group LLC
Title: Senior Accountant
Location: New York City
Minimum experience: 5 years
Description: This is a new position reporting to the CAO of Fortress. The person will be exposed to the accounting, regulatory and business issues surrounding the company’s diversified investment portfolio.
Responsibilities: Assist the CAO and Accounting Policy Senior Manager with the oversight and documentation of the accounting policies of Fortress and its sponsored funds; Liaison with the controllers of the various funds on accounting, controls, and regulatory issues; Assist the CAO and Accounting Policy Senior Manager with accounting research/issues; Assist the CAO in the preparation of quarterly and annual financial statements; Prepare schedules for internal management reporting; Assist with various special projects
Required Skills: The ideal candidate will be a CPA and hold a BS Degree (or equivalent) and 5-8 years of finance accounting experience. Public company and/or private equity fund accounting experience is a plus.
See the entire description over at the GC Career Center and visit the main page for all your job search needs.

>75: Procrastination

Adrienne Gonzalez
January 8, 2010

Editor’s note: This is the latest edition of >75, our weekly post on questions that you have related to the CPA Exam. Send your questions to tips@goingconcern.com and we’ll do our best to answer as many of them as possible. You can see all of the JDA’s posts for GC here and all our posts related to the CPA Exam here.
First of all, I have to give it to all of you little future CPAs of America, you REALLY know how to put things off until the last minute, don’t you?
I’m going to let you in on a tiny little secret: the exam never goes away.
Let me paint an “imaginary” scenario where CPA Review classes are starting in less than 48 hours. Classes have been on hold for over two months and suddenly, within this 48 hour period, there is a rush of panicked CPA exam candidates realizing they’ve got less than a day left to figure out a plan. Anyone else see what’s wrong with this picture?
I’m not talking about a handful of people, I’m talking about a significant chunk of you. You know who you are and you know exactly what I’m talking about.

So what is it? Do you believe that the exam will pass itself? Or if you put it off long enough somehow you’ll wake up one day a CPA? I hate to break it to you but that’s really moronic.
There are students in our classes that are 50-some years old. Think about that. They graduated 30 years ago and are STILL putting this stupid ass exam off. So don’t think you’re some hero of procrastination just because you let 18 months go by and started losing exam scores, you aren’t special.
The bottom line is this: it is all about what you want to do with your life. Do you really want to be a CPA? Then you’ll suck it up and finish. Don’t do it because your parents want it or your girlfriend wants it or it’s your grandma’s dying wish. You are only setting yourself up for a life of half-assed failure, misery, and disappointment.
Which is kind of like what you’re setting yourself up for with a CPA and a career in public accounting except + tchotchkes. Win* (I think).
Point is, stop. In the time it takes for you to come up with 1000 excuses, you could have already booked your exam and gotten through at least 150 MCQ. Yes, it sucks but guess what? You picked it. You can make it worse on yourself and be that 50 year old guy in the back of our Live class or you can just get through it and stop bitching.
/end rant. Do it.
*I’m obligated to say that because of my day job

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