Accountants

Krause's Furniture Inc. said Thursday its independent accounting firm, which recently questioned the money-losing retailer's ability to survive, has resigned. The Brea company disclosed the departure of Arthur Andersen and announced that losses widened in the first quarter, largely from costs of shutting down 15 unprofitable stores. The accounting firm resigned because Krause's no longer met Andersen's "client profile," Krause's said in a statement.

As the main rule-making body of the accounting profession, the Financial Accounting Standards Board has sometimes been a magnet for controversy. The FASB is a sort of think tank made up of about 40 staff accountants and others "who possess knowledge of accounting, finance and business." Its rule-making body is a seven-member board that spends five days a week contemplating current accounting rules and how they can be changed to better reflect companies' true financial health.

A state agency said Wednesday that it revoked the certified public accountancy license of Jon R. Erickson for his role in inflating the sales figures at Platinum Software Corp., where he was chief financial officer during 1993 and early 1994. The action by the state Board of Accountancy follows Erickson's 1996 consent agreement with the Securities and Exchange Commission that banned him from serving as an officer or director of a publicly traded company for 10 years.

A former Beverly Hills accountant pleaded guilty in federal court Monday to forging the signature of his client, rock guitarist Andy Summers, on two $25,000 checks. Michael Weissenfluh, 44, who now lives in Tillamook, Ore., faces a possible eight- to 14-month prison term when he is sentenced in September by Chief U.S. District Judge Terry J. Hatter Jr.

Wiz Technology Inc. said Friday that its independent auditors resigned earlier in the week in a dispute over accounting issues. As a result of the dispute, Wiz Technology has not released financial results for its third quarter that ended April 30 and the stock has not traded on the American Stock Exchange since June 21. The company, which markets education, business and game software, said it has retained Coopers & Lybrand's Newport Beach office to replace auditors Corbin & Wertz, Irvine.

An El Toro accountant pleaded guilty Monday in federal court here to falsifying tax returns as part of a $19-million real estate fraud that investigators claim was perpetrated against more than 1,000 Southern California investors. Kenneth L. Shattuck, 46, admitted that he aided and abetted his employers--the now-defunct Newport Interstate Properties in Newport Beach--in securing a $135,000 line of credit from a bank by filing false financial statements.

The U.S. attorney's office has dropped charges against an accountant accused of masterminding a plan to flood South America with $2.5 billion in bogus U.S. bills. Officials refused to say why they had dismissed the case against Gary K. McMurtry, 46, of La Habra. "Basically, it came down to office policy," Assistant U.S. Atty. Lawrence Middleton said Wednesday. "I can't comment beyond that." Phil Bronson, McMurtry's attorney, said his client appears to have been led on by the Secret Service.

A school district accountant was arrested Friday, accused of embezzling thousands of dollars from a fund designed to help poor families attend district meetings. Juana Alicia Ramirez, 51, and her husband, Leopoldo Felix Ramirez, 35, were being held on theft and conspiracy charges. Bail for each was set at $750,000.

The California Board of Accountancy said Thursday that it has revoked the license of Elizabeth Ann Tuey Tatman of Mission Viejo under a stipulated settlement. In settling, Tatman admitted that she diverted at least $568,740 over 10 years from the corporate funds of Howard & Tatman, an accounting company in which she was a half owner. Tatman falsified entries on the firm's financial records to conceal the diversions between 1986 and 1996, the board said.

A 60-year-old Sherman Oaks tax advisor pleaded guilty Wednesday to advising an undercover IRS agent not to report $40,000 worth of gold bars as assets during a tax settlement, authorities said. Marvin Schaffer, a Beverly Hills resident who worked for Kaye, Kotts & Associates in Sherman Oaks, entered his plea before U.S. District Court Judge Robert Takasugi, who will sentence him Sept. 30, Assistant U.S. Atty. Nathan Hochman said.