20 June 2007

KPMG warned of ‘death spiral’ in tax shelter fraud case-Business-Industry Sectors-Banking & Finance-TimesOnline

KPMG warned of ‘death spiral’ in tax shelter fraud case-Business-Industry Sectors-Banking & Finance-TimesOnline: "KPMG, the accountancy firm, told the US Justice Department that it would unleash a “nuclear bomb” that would leave more than 1,000 companies without an auditor, if it indicted the firm for selling fraudulent tax shelters, according to newly released internal documents.

The Justice Department began to investigate KPMG in 2004 for allegedly helping wealthy clients to save money by setting up illegal tax shelters. The investigation came after Arthur Andersen’s indictment in 2002 for obstructing the US Government’s inquiry into Enron.

Roger Bennett, KPMG’s lawyer, argued that his client’s indictment could wipe out one of the four remaining large accounting groups, as the Enron inquiry had eradicated Andersen.

Mr Bennett told prosecutors at a meeting on March 22, 2005, that “a death spiral is going to start, and KPMG will be out of business”."

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