REPRESENTATIVE CASES
We were retained by bankruptcy counsel to consult on the data relating to the distribution of over $25 million to former Enron employees. This money was obtained through law suits against former Enron executives who received retention bonuses prior to the filing of Enron's bankruptcy petition.
First, we determined which employees were eligible to participate in this distribution and prepared schedules that contained the calculation of each eligible former employee's pro-rata dollar entitlement. We tested the electronic data for errors and reported our findings to the Trustee in our Consultant’s Report. Finally, we researched and advised the Trustee on the payroll tax obligations of the Trust distributing the monies.
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At the request of the band members, we were retained to examine three years of financial transactions relating to this “mega” band’s business enterprises, which included separate companies for the band’s touring, recording, merchandising, writing, publishing and charitable activities. We reviewed and analyzed $250 million of cash receipts and $250 million of cash disbursements in its various entities, the band’s contracts including its royalty and licensing agreements, its charitable foundation, the daily records produced by its tour accountant and its tax and insurance records. We visited their merchandise fulfillment facilities and executive offices, interviewed the band’s key personnel and submitted a formal report to the band regarding these topics.
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Working with one of the most renowned bankruptcy law firms in the United States, we were retained to assist counsel in the representation of unsecured creditors in the Montgomery Ward bankruptcy case. In this complicated financial fraud lawsuit, we participated in an extensive investigation of the documents and the deposition of several top executives of both GE Credit Corp. and the General Electric Corporation. Our final Bankruptcy Rule 2004 investigation was the deposition of Jack Welch shortly before he left as the CEO of General Electric. Our work resulted in the unsecured creditors receiving over $80 million through a settlement with GE.
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We assisted one of New York's most prominent matrimonial attorneys, representing the wife, in this complex, seven year divorce action involving a Harvard MBA investment banker who amassed marital assets in excess of $53 million. He was the controlling shareholder of two public companies, one traded on the New York Stock Exchange and one traded on the NASDAQ. For seven years, the husband ignored numerous Court orders to produce documents and changed attorneys three times. The ownership of the public companies was extremely complex comprised of numerous layers of corporate and partnership entities.
After five unsuccessful settlement conferences, over a three year period, the attempts at settlement ended in angry personal attacks between attorneys and clients. The husband requested that we, as the forensic accountants, meet with him alone to work out a settlement. After three marathon sessions, a comprehensive cash and real estate settlement was obtained for the wife.
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Assisting one of New York's preeminent criminal defense attorneys, we conceived and strategized a defense for a real estate executive facing a multi-count indictment by New York State's Attorney General. Our client was charged with fraud in connection with the sale of co-op apartments which allegedly caused the victims serious financial harm.
Working with ten years of financial statements, corporate tax returns and the co-op plans of forty five properties, we analyzed the information and designed worksheets to be used in Court to prove that, in fact, there was "no-harm" to the victims but rather they had enjoyed material windfall gains as the result of our analyses. After a brief deliberation by the jury, our client was acquitted on all counts.
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In the litigation within a bankruptcy proceeding, we were retained to value the limited partnership interest in a well known family amusement and sports center in Manhattan, NY. The ownership interest had been transferred from a corporate ownership to an individual ownership prior to the filing for bankruptcy and the death of the limited partner. The creditors petitioned the individual owners to return the ownership interest to the bankrupt corporation for distribution to creditors under the bankruptcy proceedings.
Using the income approach of valuation, we performed two calculations of value, one at the date the interest was transferred to the individuals and one at the date of death. The result of our work ended in the determination of a value of the ownership interest and a settlement between the creditors and the beneficiaries of the Estate.
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Our client, the husband in this divorce, needed assistance in supporting his separate property claims for assets he brought to the marriage, including two homes and twenty two partnership and portfolio investments. It was clear that he owned these assets prior to the date of commencement, but during the five year marriage had co-mingled his personal checking account with the sale and purchase activities in his investment portfolio.
Our work included a detailed analysis of each separate investment account, including original purchase amounts, additional purchases, partial liquidations of the investment, and the recording of all dividend and interest income and gains and losses from each investment over the five year period subsequent to the date of the marriage. In addition, for the five-year period of the marriage, we had to “unwind” his personal checking account (where he deposited his payroll checks and paid the family expenses) transaction by transaction, to trace the activity and movement of his separate property investment moneys. At this time, settlement discussions are about to begin.
We were retained by bankruptcy counsel to consult on the data relating to the distribution of over $25 million to former Enron employees. This money was obtained through law suits against former Enron executives who received retention bonuses prior to the filing of Enron's bankruptcy petition.
First, we determined which employees were eligible to participate in this distribution and prepared schedules that contained the calculation of each eligible former employee's pro-rata dollar entitlement. We tested the electronic data for errors and reported our findings to the Trustee in our Consultant’s Report. Finally, we researched and advised the Trustee on the payroll tax obligations of the Trust distributing the monies.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
At the request of the band members, we were retained to examine three years of financial transactions relating to this “mega” band’s business enterprises, which included separate companies for the band’s touring, recording, merchandising, writing, publishing and charitable activities. We reviewed and analyzed $250 million of cash receipts and $250 million of cash disbursements in its various entities, the band’s contracts including its royalty and licensing agreements, its charitable foundation, the daily records produced by its tour accountant and its tax and insurance records. We visited their merchandise fulfillment facilities and executive offices, interviewed the band’s key personnel and submitted a formal report to the band regarding these topics.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Working with one of the most renowned bankruptcy law firms in the United States, we were retained to assist counsel in the representation of unsecured creditors in the Montgomery Ward bankruptcy case. In this complicated financial fraud lawsuit, we participated in an extensive investigation of the documents and the deposition of several top executives of both GE Credit Corp. and the General Electric Corporation. Our final Bankruptcy Rule 2004 investigation was the deposition of Jack Welch shortly before he left as the CEO of General Electric. Our work resulted in the unsecured creditors receiving over $80 million through a settlement with GE.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
We assisted one of New York's most prominent matrimonial attorneys, representing the wife, in this complex, seven year divorce action involving a Harvard MBA investment banker who amassed marital assets in excess of $53 million. He was the controlling shareholder of two public companies, one traded on the New York Stock Exchange and one traded on the NASDAQ. For seven years, the husband ignored numerous Court orders to produce documents and changed attorneys three times. The ownership of the public companies was extremely complex comprised of numerous layers of corporate and partnership entities.
After five unsuccessful settlement conferences, over a three year period, the attempts at settlement ended in angry personal attacks between attorneys and clients. The husband requested that we, as the forensic accountants, meet with him alone to work out a settlement. After three marathon sessions, a comprehensive cash and real estate settlement was obtained for the wife.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Assisting one of New York's preeminent criminal defense attorneys, we conceived and strategized a defense for a real estate executive facing a multi-count indictment by New York State's Attorney General. Our client was charged with fraud in connection with the sale of co-op apartments which allegedly caused the victims serious financial harm.
Working with ten years of financial statements, corporate tax returns and the co-op plans of forty five properties, we analyzed the information and designed worksheets to be used in Court to prove that, in fact, there was "no-harm" to the victims but rather they had enjoyed material windfall gains as the result of our analyses. After a brief deliberation by the jury, our client was acquitted on all counts.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
In the litigation within a bankruptcy proceeding, we were retained to value the limited partnership interest in a well known family amusement and sports center in Manhattan, NY. The ownership interest had been transferred from a corporate ownership to an individual ownership prior to the filing for bankruptcy and the death of the limited partner. The creditors petitioned the individual owners to return the ownership interest to the bankrupt corporation for distribution to creditors under the bankruptcy proceedings.
Using the income approach of valuation, we performed two calculations of value, one at the date the interest was transferred to the individuals and one at the date of death. The result of our work ended in the determination of a value of the ownership interest and a settlement between the creditors and the beneficiaries of the Estate.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Our client, the husband in this divorce, needed assistance in supporting his separate property claims for assets he brought to the marriage, including two homes and twenty two partnership and portfolio investments. It was clear that he owned these assets prior to the date of commencement, but during the five year marriage had co-mingled his personal checking account with the sale and purchase activities in his investment portfolio.
Our work included a detailed analysis of each separate investment account, including original purchase amounts, additional purchases, partial liquidations of the investment, and the recording of all dividend and interest income and gains and losses from each investment over the five year period subsequent to the date of the marriage. In addition, for the five-year period of the marriage, we had to “unwind” his personal checking account (where he deposited his payroll checks and paid the family expenses) transaction by transaction, to trace the activity and movement of his separate property investment moneys. At this time, settlement discussions are about to begin.