Shareholder questions spending of public company

Posted by Tracy Coenen on January 31, 2006 · Leave a Comment 

Carl Icahn, a major shareholder in Time Warner Inc. has been speaking out against the company’s expenses. He says that the overhead and the perks are outrageous. Corporate overhead includes airplanes used by senior management for business and personal travel. Icahn also points out that Time Warner’s corporate headquarters, at $1.7 billion, is the most [...]

Publishing changes after “A Million Little Pieces” is outed as a fraud

Posted by Tracy Coenen on January 30, 2006 · Leave a Comment 

The publisher of “A Million Little Pieces” by James Frey has apologized to its readers. Nan A. Talese/Doubleday published the hardcover version, while Anchor Books published the paperback edition. Both publishers are apologizing to readers for the controversy.
The book, a purported nonfiction work, includes many exaggerated truths and outright lies. The publishers have now decided [...]

Enron trial to begin Monday

Posted by Tracy Coenen on January 28, 2006 · Leave a Comment 

It has taken four years, but Ken Lay and Jeffrey Skilling of Enron fame are finally going in front of a jury. The question remains whether or not the two heads of the company were a part of inflating earnings while the company was billions of dollars in debt.

First ‘Survivor’ winner found guilty of tax evasion

Posted by Tracy Coenen on January 25, 2006 · Leave a Comment 

Richard Hatch, the winner of the first season of ‘Survivor’ was convicted of evading taxes on his winnings, as well as money earned as a radio show host and earnings from a rental property. He faces prison time of up to 13 years and a fine of up to $600,000.
Hatch’s defense was based upon his [...]

Wisconsin Fraud: State official accused of corruption

Posted by Tracy Coenen on January 25, 2006 · Leave a Comment 

Georgia Thompson, a purchasing division supervisor in the Wisconsin Department of Administration has been charged in federal court with 2 felonies. The charges include misapplication of funds and participating in a scheme to defraud the State.
The charges stem from the awarding of a $750,000 contract to provide travel services to the State. Thompson was on [...]

Milwaukee Fraud: Museum considers hiring forensic auditors

Posted by Tracy Coenen on January 24, 2006 · Leave a Comment 

The audit committee of the Milwaukee County Board is considering hiring an outside forensic accounitng firm to perform a forensic audit on the finances of the Milwaukee Public Museum. This project would cost between $50,000 and $100,000. The project is being proposed by Supervisor James White.
The board of MPM was told by county auditors that [...]

Ameriquest Mortgage offers settlement to consumers

Posted by Tracy Coenen on January 23, 2006 · Leave a Comment 

Ameriquest Mortgage Co. has offered $325 million to settle accusations of predatory lending in 49 states. Consumers in Wisconsin will receive over $2.7 million of the total. The company was accused of using high-pressure tactics and deception to sell mortgages to homeowners interested in refinancing.
Ameriquest is the nation’s largest sub-prime lender, offering loans to consumers [...]

Milwaukee Fraud: Voter suppression

Posted by Tracy Coenen on January 23, 2006 · Leave a Comment 

Four men pleaded guilty last week Friday to misdemeanor charges of property damage for their participation in the Election Day 2004 tire-slashing. The defendants were all workers for the Kerry-Edwards campaign, and the 40 tires they slashed were on 25 vans rented by the Republican party to transport inner-city voters to the polls.
The guilty men [...]

Survivor winner Richard Hatch goes to trial on tax evasion charges

Posted by Tracy Coenen on January 21, 2006 · Leave a Comment 

The first winner of my all-time favorite television show, Survivor, is on trial for alleged tax evasion. Richard Hatch is accused of not reporting to the IRS his earnings from Survivor, as well as not paying taxes on other income.
In a strange twist, Hatch’s attorney has stated that the Survivor producers made a deal with [...]

On Balance – Wisconsin CPA magazine

Posted by Tracy Coenen on January 20, 2006 · Leave a Comment 

The latest issue of On Balance is out, and it is dedicated to the topic of fraud and forensic accounting. On Balance is the magazine published by the Wisconsin Institute of Certified Public Accountants, published every other month, and edited by Amy Gaeth.
I contributed several items to the issue:
1. The cover story “CPA Sleuths: [...]

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