03 Jan 2008, Accountancy Age, AccountancyAge
http://www.accountancyage.com/aa/special/1787205/who-worlds-worst-accountant-part-ii
In six months since our last 'world's worst accountant' special there have been a surprising number of fakes, frauds, scammers and rogues in the headlines.
From ill-advised celebrities to corporate high-fliers to humble bookkeepers; too many have been tempted by the dark side of the numbers game.
Obviously, not all of these individuals are accountants, but whoever they are, they must have had some of the worst financial advice in the business.
Read the stories below to see who was caught in the act. But a little parental advisory: don't try this at home, kids!
Wesley Snipes faces court over unpaid tax
bills
Snipes will raise the defence that he didn't pay six years in tax on the advice
of tax accountants
Austrian accountant jailed for embezzling
human rights funds
Stolen money paid for breast augmentation and a nose job of accountant's
31-year-old mistress
Daewoo founder pardoned for accounting
fraud
Kim Woo-choong pardoned by president for corporate failure of motor manufacturer
Ex-Morgan Stanley analyst jailed for tax fraud
A former investment banking analyst working for Morgan Stanley in the UK faces
up to 4½ years’ jail for grand larceny
Crooked accountant admits to 53 fraud charges
A corrupt accountant has admitted to 53 charges of fraud, funnelling ₤700,000
into his own account for a luxury lifestyle
Former PwC tax consultant jailed for stealing from firm
Theft-accused stole more then £34,000 to pay off credit card debts racked up by
her boyfriend
Court confiscates £41m from Izodia director
The court has ordered Gerald Smith, convicted of misappropriating funds from
dot-com company Izodia, to pay back almost £41m
Midlands duo accused of using celebrity names to dupe
clients
No investments were made but the ‘returns’ came from new investors in the
scheme, the Serious Fraud Office is alleging
Accountant jailed after blowing £340,000 on
hooker
Dunscar accountant jailed for two years
Carousel fraudsters sent down for 34
years
Example made of four-man gang as authorities seek to clampdown on billion-pound
scam industry
Hollywood star accused of dodging
taxman
Wesley Snipes facing multiple tax fraud indictments
Ebbers begins marathon jail term
Former WorldCom chief locked up for 25 years
Six years for ex-Enron CFO
Four years knocked off plea deal
Devon accountants jailed
Length jail terms for role in builders' tax scam
Former HealthSouth CFO to get jail time
New sentence for disgraced executive
Izodia director jailed for eight years over false
accounting
Gerald Smith heads for the slammer after misappropriating £34m
Investors to sue jailed fraudster
As many as 100 people allegedly victims
Isley Brothers singer jailed for tax
evasion
Ronald Isley given three-year term for 'pathological tax evasion' despite ill
health
Accountant jailed for tax fraud
He helped clients defraud tax authorities
Ex-PwC Japan accountants guilty of
lying
Suspended jail terms handed down
Jailed tax adviser claimed he was an accountant
Bankrupt bookkeeper conned clients
Bookkeeper jailed for million-pound theft
Bookkeeper admits theft from food supply company over seven-year period
Berlusconi charged with false
accounting
Former Italian prime minister charged over television deal
Accountant at centre of laundering
trial
CA accused of laundering £5.6m
Bookkeeper and soldier jailed over VAT
fraud
Total of 12 years jail time for pair
Carousel fraudster gets six years
Telecoms specialist sent down in scam that cost the UK £60m
Legal exec jailed over VAT fraud
Convicted for role in ₤200m laundering scam
Daewoo founder jailed for ten years
Kim Woo-choong found guilty of accounting fraud
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Visitor comments
Don't accuse accountants...
"Who is the world's worst accountant?" asks the headline. It then goes on to list a number of instances of frauds fakes and scammers.
But how many are actually accountants? Didn't know that Ronald Isley of Isley Brothers' fame was an accountant.
Wesley Snipes the actor - an accountant? Boy he kept that quiet, or maybe he's just a very good actor!
Berlusconi? Thought he was an Italian Rupert Murdoch with political aspirations.
"Bookkeeper and Soldier" - really!
"Legal Exec"!
Please, sob, think carefully before putting your fingers on the keyboard and accusing the world's second oldest profession of misdemeanours, when, as you state in your article, "too many have been tempted by the dark side of accounting".
Posted by: Ian Middleton , 04 Jan 2008 | 00:00
Who decides in organisations?
Blaming the accountants for any financial disasters?
I say, it takes two to tango and possibly more than two in big conglomerates.
I would pose the question if it is a norm in any organisations in this world that it is the accountant who makes the final say in anything the CEO does?
Another point of interest here is this - the 'accountants' so-called listed in any financial fiascos are not from the Association of International Accountants.
Can it be taken to mean that the AIA members were not given a chance at the top levels?
I post this point because of the numerous inputs about this recognised qualification in the UK and EU.
Posted by: Bil LOH , 14 Apr 2008 | 00:00