Former E&Y Partner Sentenced

A former partner at Big Four firm Ernst & Young was sentenced to a year in federal prison and a $5,000 fine after pleading guilty to tampering with audit records for NextCard Inc., an issuer of online credit cards, the AP reported. As part of the sentence, Thomas Trauger, 42, must also undergo two years of supervised release. He is scheduled to be taken into custody March 30. He initially faced up to five years in prison. In October, Trauger confessed to tampering with the now-bankrupt NextCard's audit records after regulators had raised doubts about NextCard's accounting practices. He was charged with subsequently destroying key documents in an effort to mask the fraudulent changes.