Although the firm pre-empted the SEC announcement, KPMG must have been disheartened to read the agency’s press release this week, announcing that it was filing civil fraud charges against the Big Four firm.
At issue: whether KPMG knowingly looked the other way while Xerox flouted GAAP and reported financials that showed considerably rosier results than were actually taking place at the copier conglomerate.
KPMG essentially branded the action as a witchhunt, fueled by a spate of accounting scandals, claimed its actions were entirely proper, and assured the world that it would be vindicated.
