The bright side in all this is…oh, let's face it: when your broker's auditor is in jorts, the situation is hopeless:
Peregrine Financial Group's bankruptcy trustee has hired a team of forensic accountants to help figure out what remains at the failed futures brokerage after its CEO's arrest and confession to years of stealing from customers. PricewaterhouseCoopers was hired over the weekend and started work on Monday, Ira Bodenstein, the trustee, told Reuters on Wednesday. Their task is to secure data and gather information, he said. […] The hiring of PricewaterhouseCoopers suggests the trustee is seeking independent confirmation of how much money is actually at the firm and in customers' accounts, a first step before any money can be released.
Koss embezzlement mastermind Sue Sachdeva will receive her prison sentence tomorrow for ripping the headphone cobbler off to the tune of $34 million. Yesterday, the government’s sentencing memorandum (full document after the jump) was released and the prosecution and defense each made their arguments for a heavier/lighter prison sentence.
“She stole from the hardworking employees of the company and their families, and ultimately the stockholders of the company,” Koss wrote. “They are the true victims of her crimes.”
They argued that Sue Sachdeva should get a lighter sentence because:
a. she’s been a law-abiding citizen until now
b. the fraud was “simple”
c. and poor, poor Sue has a “compulsive shopping disorder”
Jump over to Tracy’s post for more analysis but our take on these three reasons are as follows:
A. “Until now,” as in “right up to the moment she pleaded guilty”? If so, that sorta ignores a scam that went on for over a decade.
B. Again, so simple that it went on for over ten years? You’re really making the Koss management look like a bunch of idiots…Wait, maybe they’re on to something here.
C. Please. Show us someone who wasn’t addicted to shopping in the 90s and 00s.
What the hell is gonna to take for a celebrity to get an honest money manager around these parts?
IRS agents arrested Kenneth Starr (not this guy) today who has managed money for celebrities including Martin Scorsese, Uma Thurman and financial shitshows Annie Leibovitz and Wesley Snipes.
The SEC has frozen his assets alleging that Starr “made unauthorized transfers of money in client accounts that ultimately wound up in Starr’s personal accounts.” But it was for a good reason – the man needs roof over his head, according to the complaint “Starr and his companies transferred $7 million from the accounts of three clients between April 13 and April 16, 2010, without any authorization. The transferred funds were ultimately used to purchase a $7.6 million apartment on the Upper East Side in Manhattan on April 16.”
Former New York City Council President Andrew Stein was also named in the complaint, and “is charged with lying to the IRS and federal agents about his involvement with Wind River.” Wind River being a company that Starr allegedly syphoned money to, that Stein used for personal expenses. However we’re mostly shocked to learn that Stein briefly dated Ann Coulter – shudder.
Koss embezzlement mastermind Sue Sachdeva will