LISA vs. Juan Jose Gutierrez Mayorga, et al, Defendants, Guatemala

Manufacturing Financial Advisor Egg Hunt The first LISA, S.A. lawsuit was dated February 1998 and filed in Miami which touched off litigation between the parties in ten different jurisdictions over a ten year period. Some cases do need staying power. After the events in 1998 and 1999, Counsel required the assistance of a forensic accountant to assist their client in defending the various allegations of financial impropriety and in particular to critique the other side’s expert report. The plaintiff, a family member and a minority shareholder, alleged various claims against his fellow family members and majority shareholders. Each allegation was... Read More...

IBM, Poughkeepsie, New York

Manufacturing Bid-Rigging, Management Fraud Roger was Too Busy to Chat Hi-tech products can have a relatively short shelf life, which requires procedures including environmental to properly dismantle parts that are used, discontinued or deemed to be surplus. Counsel’s client had chosen through the bid process to contract with various vendors to obtain this service with their agreement requiring the vendors to share their sale proceeds from recycled parts and to not sell parts scheduled for scrap. However, field investigators had found and confirmed the movement of scrap in the gray market and our mandate was to determine if any person... Read More...

Alcan: Aluminum Company Of Canada

Manufacturing Bribery Housewife becomes Informant The forensic accountant must understand the cardinal rule of protecting the informant. Quite often, a secretary will become the informant, however, in this case, the informant was a housewife and the alleged beneficiary of kickbacks, a division head of a public company. The housewife heard the rumor from the receptionist working for the vendor, the alleged payor. The Director of Corporate Security Jim Poirier for Alcan called for assistance. It is tough, particularly as a jolly-faced accountant to try to convince a stranger to completely trust your investigative skills. But she did, along with her... Read More...

Allied Lyons Vs Fosters Brewery

Manufacturing Financial Advisor International Battle over Booze Fosters, an Australian brewery through Elders had targeted a takeover candidate in the U.K., Allied Lyons PLC that sought the assistance of the U.K. anti-monopoly commission. The takeover candidate alleged that the Australian company was profitable only due to aggressive acquisition accounting. The question arose as to whether or not their public filings could support this allegation. It was time for international travel, a penetrating pursuit of public filings in Australia and lessons on how to make the best use of time in business class. With many available hours and no phones, it... Read More...

Amstel Brewery

Manufacturing Management Fraud Sleuthing with Counsel This case is a lesson learned about how not to investigate and still survive. It’s late Friday night, and the company’s President is still at work. Of course, we (including external counsel) are sitting in our carefully parked cars armed with allegations of expense fraud ready to pounce on the accounting records. But it gets late and we give up. We returned Saturday and why not, we had the right of access from its foreign owner and in-house counsel who wanted us to just get on with the investigation. Well, I am sitting at... Read More...

Regina vs. Harold Scheel

Manufacturing Management Fraud Deposits yes; skids no In a jury trial in November 1976, Judge Couture ruled in favor of the admissibility of accounting schedules, “having heard,” as he stated, “the testimony of Mr. Lindquist.” The ruling was appealed and in May 1978 the Supreme Court of Ontario, Court of Appeal set the precedent as to the admissibility of accounting schedules stating that the “learned trial judge did not err.” Their ruling included reference to the two unreported judgments noted earlier, Parks and Waddilove & Steele. This case also made me appreciate that there is no simple fraud case when... Read More...