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Your Naughty Tax Preparer of the Day

Posted on by Jason Bramwell

So this guy actually thought he could get away with this, huh? SMH.

Hadi Isbaih of Palos Heights, IL, was charged in an indictment returned Monday in the Northern District of Illinois with four counts of wire fraud for allegedly fraudulently assisting customers in obtaining millions of dollars in loans under the CARES Act, authorities said.

“Falsifying documents to fraudulently gain access to SBA program funds is unconscionable,” said Sharon Johnson, special agent-in-charge of the Central Region of the U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General.

Not good:

According to the indictment, Isbaih, 39, owned and operated Flash Tax Service Inc., a tax and investment consulting business in Bridgeview, Ill. From April to October 2020, Isbaih submitted on behalf of hundreds of Flash Tax customers Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan applications that contained materially false statements and misrepresentations about the customers’ businesses, such as gross revenues, expenses, and number of employees, the indictment states. Isbaih’s false statements and misrepresentations caused millions of dollars in fraudulently obtained PPP and EIDL funds to be disbursed to those customers, the charges allege.

Isbaih charged Flash Tax customers an upfront fee of approximately several hundred dollars before he submitted the fraudulent applications on the customers’ behalf, the indictment states. If the customers received the PPP or EIDL funds based on those applications, Isbaih charged the customers an additional fee of approximately $1,000, the indictment states.

If convicted, Isbaih faces up to 20 years in federal prison for each wire fraud count.

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SHOCKER: GAO Says the Federal Government Has Weak Internal Controls

Talk about a blow. Everyone here at GC soiled themselves after finding out this piece of news.

The mother of all auditors, the General Accountability Office, released its FY 2009 Financial Report for the U.S. Government last week and things are, shall we say, typical. How typical? How about things are such a mess that the GAO can’t render an opinion on the consolidated financial statements?

“The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) could not render an opinion on the consolidated financial statements of the federal government (other than the Statement of Social Insurance) because of widespread material internal control weaknesses and other limitations.”


That’s from the press release and while we were expecting a shitshow spread amongst all the agencies of the government, it’s due to the weaknesses in four agencies: the Defense Department, Homeland Security, State Department, and NASA.

Here’s the full rundown on the agencies from the report:

You may remember us noting the Defense Department’s audit problems back in the fall when we said:

For one of the 69 reviews the GAO performed, the audit report cited eight significant deficiencies in the contractor’s accounting system but since the contractor wasn’t really cool with that, the auditors dropped five of the [significant deficiencies] and recommended that the other three be “improved without additional work”.

So this really, really, really does come as a surprise. It is good to know that the GAO — never shy on tooting its own horn — is still out there earning it’s “taxpayer watchdog” badge.

At 256 pages, this thing is a beast. We’re plowing through it to find the more interesting tidbits where we can and if you’re on cruise control today, take a gander for yourself to see your tax dollars at work.

Fiscal Year 2009 Financial Report of the United States Government [GAO.gov]
U.S. Government’s 2009 Financial Report Shows Significant Fiscal Challenges [Press Release]
GAO Cites Weak Financial Management in Federal Government [Web CPA Debits & Credits]

Woman Realizes Her Dream of an Accounting Degree After 19 Years

Whenever you feel unmotivated to get your accounting degree or are concerned you’ve made an awful career decision, just think about this Iowa woman who worked 19 long, tedious-ass years to get her bachelor’s in accounting.

We’re totally OK with this woman being too busy to take the CPA exam, this is the ultimate excuse to be unable to get through the exam in 18 months. Bow to her greatness and insantly feel guilty for being greedy when it comes to compensation and slacking so hard on the job.

In 1992, a gallon of gas cost $1.13, Bill Clinton won the presidential election and Kathy Vitzthum took her first class at Iowa State University.

Vitzthum has taken about one class each and every semester since. For 40 semesters. Since Miley Cyrus was born. Since Charles and Diana split up. Since Ross Perot pulled out his charts and pointer on TV. Since the World Wide Web was in its infancy (and text only).

On May 7, the 48-year-old Vitzthum, who lives in Slater, graduates summa cum laude from Iowa State. She has achieved her goal — a bachelor’s degree in accounting — after juggling family and career with finals and papers for 19 years.

Now, we don’t judge as we all have our different career paths but while congratulating this woman for her epic accomplishment, it’s wise to point out that we don’t necessarily recommend this bundle of choices for just anyone. It’s easiest to go college, then pass the CPA exam or start work (it’s usually easiest to do the exam in-between school and starting work), then get married and/or have kids. You are welcome to do these in any order you like, we just wouldn’t feel right if we didn’t point this out.

I’m not sure what you all were doing in 1992 but I was in 6th grade. Think about that for a minute next time you hate your life and/or career decisions.

A puppy for no reason

Friday Footnotes: Big 4’s Tech Push; An Audit Fix?; Best Cities For Accountants | 1.3.20

The Best Cities in America For Accountants [Blackline Magazine] Oof this intro graf tho: “Accounting […]