• Your Number is Up: Recovering From Identity Theft

    Written by Tracy L. Coenen, CPA, CFF Wisconsin Law Journal Reprinted in St. Louis Daily Record Identity theft affects countless consumers and businesses each year, costing millions and maybe even billions of dollars. In 2004, the Federal Trade Commission received […]

  • IRS audit of Greenpeace confirms non-profit status

    In 2003, Public Interest Watch (a group that calls itself a watchdog of non-profit groups) wrote a letter to the Internal Revenue Service accusing Greenpeace of money laundering and other crimes. The letter accused Greenpeace of laundering $24 million in […]

  • Accounting Problems at GM; Last Year’s Losses Increase

    The board of directors of General Motors Corp is asking for an investigation into newly revealed accounting errors which have delayed the filing of its annual report. The SEC filing of its 10-K will be delayed because of accounting errors […]

  • Texas and Oklahoma wildfires and financial statement fraud

    The Oklahoma CPA Society recently asked me to pen a piece about the potential for financial statement fraud related to the recent wildfires. They printed it in their newsletter, OSCPA Wire. Any natural disaster creates opportunities for fraud and that’s […]

  • Parents and Son Indicted on Federal Money Laundering Charges

    Christopher Vnuk and his parents, Stephen Vnuk and Sharon Vnuk have been indicted by a federal grand jury on money laundering charges. Money from trafficking high-grade marijuana was allegedly laundered through purchases of vehicles. The parents are also alleged to […]

  • Waste and Abuse Related to Hurricane Katrina

    The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a short report about the millions of dollars wasted in the government’s award of post-Katrina contracts. Included is at least $3 million spent for 4,000 beds that were never used. ($750 per bed!) The […]

  • Attorney General Fles Suit Against H&R Block

    New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer has filed suit against H&R Block Inc. for alleged fraudulent marketing of individual retirement accounts (IRAs). It is alleged that over the last four years, H&R Block has opened over 500,000 “Express IRA” accounts […]

  • IRS Starts Using Private Companies to Collect Taxes

    This is a first! The IRS has started using private companies to collect overdue taxes. If the program is successful, it will be expanded next year. The IRS claims the “tax gap” has grown to $290 billion. The tax gap […]

  • Spending limits would have saved Wisconsin taxpayers billions

    A study conducted by Wisconsin’s Legislative Fiscal Bureau shows that taxpayers could have saved $1.9 billion over 20 years if the Taxpayer Protection Amendment had been law. The amendment would force government officials to consolidate or work more efficiently to […]

  • Data Theft From Verizon

    Two laptop computers containing personal data on an undisclosed number of Verizon employees, were recently stolen. The laptops were supposedly part of a “random theft” from a Verizon building, and the data is supposedly password-protected. The affected employees were notified […]