Kpmg Peat Marwick Co

The firm that audited Orange County's books before its unprecedented bankruptcy sued the state of California on Friday for allegedly conducting a "tainted" investigation aimed at helping the county collect damages from the accountants. The lawsuit was filed in Sacramento Superior Court on behalf of the accounting firm KPMG Peat Marwick LLP and one of its accountants, Margaret J. McBride.

In a big case largely gone bust, a jury has convicted three men who used tax shelters marketed by accounting giant KPMG to help rich people escape more than $1 billion in taxes, but it exonerated a fourth man who had been jailed for five months. The only trial in what the government once touted as its biggest tax fraud case ever ended Wednesday with U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan in Manhattan telling David Greenberg that his exoneration proved he had suffered an unfortunate injustice.

The Securities and Exchange Commission levied record fines against current and former auditors from KPMG accused of helping Xerox Corp. overstate revenue by $3 billion, the agency said Wednesday. The two men who directly oversaw Xerox audits from 1997 to 2000, Ronald Safran and Michael Conway, agreed to pay $150,000 each to settle a lawsuit brought by the SEC, according to the agency's lead lawyer in the case, James Kidney.

Hundreds of high-ranking company officials have been convicted in corporate fraud schemes since 2002, the Justice Department said Tuesday, a day after a federal judge threw out charges in one of the largest criminal tax cases in U.S. history. Atty. Gen. Alberto Gonzales called the U.S. District Court ruling, in favor of 13 former KPMG employees, disappointing but said it wouldn't deter the department from "pursuing wrongdoing where we think it exists."

The nation's second-largest accounting firm has joined an invasion by banks and insurance companies into what was once the exclusive domain of Wall Street firms. On Friday, KPMG Peat Marwick announced an aggressive expansion into the investment banking business, saying it has formed a separate company to advise corporations on financial matters, help arrange mergers and privately place securities. Experts said the steps are likely to be imitated by other Big Six accounting firms.

Hundreds of high-ranking company officials have been convicted in corporate fraud schemes since 2002, the Justice Department said Tuesday, a day after a federal judge threw out charges in one of the largest criminal tax cases in U.S. history. Atty. Gen. Alberto Gonzales called the U.S. District Court ruling, in favor of 13 former KPMG employees, disappointing but said it wouldn't deter the department from "pursuing wrongdoing where we think it exists."

A $400-million civil lawsuit stemming from the Orange County bankruptcy has been transferred to Ventura County, after a judge ruled that a neutral venue was needed to try the case. But Ventura County officials said Thursday that they are uncertain whether the case belongs in this jurisdiction, and they may try to bounce it back to Orange County if the proper procedures have not been followed.

Investors are salivating over prospects for increased dividends and share repurchases this year, thanks to U.S. corporations' burgeoning piles of cash. Or so they thought. Many companies could be limited in how much money they can return to shareholders because new pension accounting rules soon to be considered may force them to horde their cash.

Computer Sciences Corp. said it bought 51% of closely held KPMG Peat Marwick SA of Paris for an undisclosed amount of cash to form the second-largest consulting company in France. El Segundo-based Computer Sciences said it also agreed to acquire the remainder of the Paris-based company, which has annual revenue of about $70 million, early next year. The acquisition makes CSC the second-largest management and information technology consulting company in France, which Chief Executive Van B.

The judge presiding over Orange County's bankruptcy case expressed concern Wednesday that one group of cities and public agencies that lost money in the county's investment pool would not share in the millions the county hopes to recoup from Wall Street and accounting firms blamed for the pool's losses. Judge John E. Ryan said that under the county's bankruptcy plan, the group, known as the Option Bs, was excluded from receiving any proceeds from the county's multibillion-dollar lawsuits.

Federal prosecutors urged a judge to dismiss charges against 12 of 16 former KPMG partners accused of selling illegal tax shelters, dealing a blow to the largest tax fraud case in U.S. history. Prosecutors told U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in court papers filed in New York on Saturday that he should throw out the case against the 12 former executives after finding that the government had violated their right to counsel.

A federal judge accused prosecutors Thursday of overreaching in their attempt to show that former KPMG executives sold questionable tax shelters to wealthy clients. Lawyers involved in the case expect U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan to reject defendants' calls to dismiss the case. The New York judge, however, faulted what he called the government's "shameful" activity that led the accounting firm not to pay defendants' legal bills, contrary to past practice.

A former KPMG LLP tax partner pleaded guilty Monday, saying he helped wealthy investors dodge millions of dollars in taxes with fraudulent documents, sham companies and phony tax shelters. David Rivkin, 42, entered the plea to conspiracy and tax evasion charges in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, agreeing to cooperate in what the Department of Justice has called the largest criminal tax case ever.

A former KPMG partner jailed for five months while awaiting trial on charges he helped arrange illegal tax shelters can be freed after he and his family post $25-million bail, a judge ruled Wednesday. U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in New York granted bail to David Greenberg, one of 17 former KPMG executives charged with selling illegal tax shelters that generated billions of dollars in phony losses and cost the U.S. at least $2 billion in revenue.

Investors are salivating over prospects for increased dividends and share repurchases this year, thanks to U.S. corporations' burgeoning piles of cash. Or so they thought. Many companies could be limited in how much money they can return to shareholders because new pension accounting rules soon to be considered may force them to horde their cash.

The Securities and Exchange Commission levied record fines against current and former auditors from KPMG accused of helping Xerox Corp. overstate revenue by $3 billion, the agency said Wednesday. The two men who directly oversaw Xerox audits from 1997 to 2000, Ronald Safran and Michael Conway, agreed to pay $150,000 each to settle a lawsuit brought by the SEC, according to the agency's lead lawyer in the case, James Kidney.

State regulators have begun investigating major accounting firm KPMG Peat Marwick LLP, the target of a $3-billion lawsuit by bankrupt Orange County, sources said Tuesday. Last month, Orange County filed a 78-page lawsuit against KPMG, alleging that one of the nation's largest accounting firms failed to warn county leaders about the risks in its ill-fated investment pool. KPMG, which performed annual audits for the county from 1992 to 1994, denies any wrongdoing.

Accounting Firms Convert to Limited Liability Partnerships: KPMG Peat Marwick and Deloitte & Touche both announced the switch from general partnership to protect their partners from personal liability in lawsuits brought against their firms. The conversion affects 16,000 Peat Marwick partners and 1,450 partners at Deloitte & Touche.

Federal prosecutors have identified a former partner in KPMG's Woodland Hills office as having participated in an alleged conspiracy to devise phony tax shelters used by prominent figures, including the founders of Guess Inc., former gubernatorial candidate Bill Simon Jr. and Global Crossing Ltd. founder Gary Winnick, documents show.

Big Four accounting firm KPMG and law firm Sidley Austin Brown & Wood have agreed to pay $195 million to investors to settle a lawsuit over questionable tax shelters. The class action centered on tax shelters sold by KPMG from 1996 to 2002. The same shelters were involved in KPMG's agreement in August to pay $456 million to settle a federal tax shelter investigation.