Accounting fraud

Financial restatements can prompt similar companies to misstate their own earnings, according to a new study.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged two former top executives at OCZ Technology Group Inc. for accounting failures at the now-bankrupt seller of computer memory storage and power supply devices.

Mike Lynch, the founder of U.K. software company Autonomy, accused Hewlett-Packard Co. of damaging his career with false statements in the fallout from the two companies’ $10-billion merger that has been marred by a massive writedown and allegations of accounting fraud.

Toshiba Corp. said it has identified 30 more executives involved in an accounting scandal that has already led to resignations of three former presidents and reduced reported profit by about $1.3 billion.

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced that Trinity National Corp. and wholly owned subsidiary Los Alamos Bank, have agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle charges of accounting fraud.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed financial fraud charges against four former officers of SMF Energy Corp., a bankrupt Fort Lauderdale, Fla., fuel transport company.

Yigal M. Rechtman of Grassi & Co. recently concluded a fraud investigation involving a cash-skimming scheme. Here he shares his findings to help give tax professionals performing audits new perspective.

As an accountant for a public company, you’ve always dreaded this situation. You are going about your day-to-day duties in finance and stumble upon a problem with your employer’s accounting—a serious problem.

The Securities and Exchange Commission imposed sanctions Thursday against a Florida-based CPA for performing deficient and fraudulent audits and quarterly reviews for eight publicly traded companies, and issuing false and misleading audit opinions on the companies’ annual financial statements.

The Securities and Exchange Commission filed accounting fraud charges against two former top executives of a now-bankrupt online video management company, accusing them of falsifying financial statements to make the company appear more profitable than it was in reality.