A Cult of Personality Blinded Others to Their Schemes Today's blog is long but comprehensively addresses two of the most interesting cases of how not to run a business. For educators, it could be the makings of a case study to use in the classroom. I recently watched a streaming... Read more →

Professional Obligations of Accountants to Clients You may have heard that Donald Trump and the Trump Organization’s accountant, Mazars USA, split up after Mazars sent a letter dated February 9, 2022 to the Trump Organization. The letter was included in a court filing and said that “the Statements of Financial... Read more →

Disconnect Between Democrats and Republicans Moral Values are inter-linked with ethical standards and establish a framework for right behavior in society. Morality in the U.S. is on the decline, which is the topic of today's blog. Is there a disconnect between the Democrats and Republicans with respect to how they... Read more →

Examining the POGO Report and Other Matters It’s been twenty years since the Public Company Oversight Board (PCAOB) was created by the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX). This is a good time to evaluate the mandate given to the board, it’s work during that period, and whether it is... Read more →

It Starts Out with an Email to Renew Services You Don't Have Last Friday was one of the worst days of my life. I received an email from someone claiming to work for Norton LifeLock. The email, copied below, claims that I use their services and need to renew for... Read more →

Looking for the Red Flags of Fraudulent Financial Reporting I recently read an article that describes the results of a study that contends in some company bosses are being placed in a position of power when the company needs “aggressive earnings reports”. In such cases, recruiters are more likely to... Read more →

Cyber-Attacks and Voter Fraud Likely to Occur I recently read an alarming report about the possibility of cyber-attacks in the upcoming election. According to the report, U.S. authorities have said that hackers could slow -- but not prevent -- voting and vote-counting in the November 3 election, adding to the... Read more →

The Big Hustle Theranos was a privately held health corporation that was touted as a breakthrough technology company. It claimed to having devised blood tests that required only exceedingly small amounts of blood and could be performed very rapidly using small automated devices the company had developed. However, the claims... Read more →

Analyzing Motives for Behavior What motivates a parent to bribe key people to get their kid admitted to a prestigious university? That is the ethical question of “Operation Varsity Blues.” In March 2019, the story broke of an alarming fraudulent scheme by parents to pay off middleman, William “Rick” Singer,... Read more →

Unintended Consequences of the PPP Program? The government’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) has unintended consequences. Namely, the amount of money a furloughed or unemployed worker receives from unemployment funds can be greater than the regular salary received had that individual returned to work. The main reason is the $600 boost... Read more →