Timothy M. Morrison, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, announced that Andrea M. Bennett, 41, Indianapolis, Indiana, has been charged with illegally accessing IRS computers and filing false claims against the government, following an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division, and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. The information alleges that Bennett was employed in Indianapolis as a contact representative for the IRS, providing information to taxpayers and making adjustments to their tax accounts.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has obtained an emergency court order freezing the assets of a Chicago-area investment adviser and two of its principals who are alleged to have misappropriated more than $4 million in client assets by transferring them to third parties, and incorrectly reported the net asset and other investment values to investors.The SEC charged The Nutmeg Group LLC, owner and managing member Randall Goulding, and chief compliance officer David Goulding for misappropriating client assets, making misrepresentations to their clients, failing to comply with Nutmeg's cu

According to a report released by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), U.S. organizations lose an estimated seven percent of their annual revenues to fraud – but the damage is the worst among small businesses. Among the fraud cases detailed for the survey, the median loss suffered by organizations with fewer than 100 employees was $200,000, higher than the median loss for larger organizations.

His accountant says it's all a matter of bad timing. Duane "Dog" Chapman is the owner of Dakine Bail Bonds in Honolulu, but is more well-known as the star of the A&E reality show, "Dog and the Bounty Hunter."According to tax liens filed at the Hawaii Bureau of Conveyances filed January 27, Chapman owes $2 million in unpaid taxes that go back as far as 2002. Not that he hasn't had his share of tax woes before...

Brazilian racecar driver Helio Castroneves was in court again in early February and yet another hearing will take place on February 16th. In the latest courtroom drama, Castroneves and his codefendants were hoping to derail the government's tax evasion case against them. Unfortunately for them, the federal judge wasn't buying their arguments, and the March 2nd trial will proceed as planned. Castroneves is accused of carrying out various schemes designed to evade the taxes on $5,550,000 in fees he earned for racing and for the use of his name in endorsements in 1999-2002.

The story is becoming sadly familiar. On January 2, 2009 Tom Daschle rushed to file amended tax returns for 2005, 2006, and 2007, and pay $128,203 in unpaid taxes plus $11,964 in interest. There was no mention of penalties. Why the rush? The 61-year-old former U.S. Senator from South Dakota was nominated to fill a post in the Obama cabinet, as the head of Health and Human Services as well as a newly created post, the head of the White House Office on Health Reform.

University of New Mexico students in Rutledge Professor of Accounting Richard G. Brody's forensic accounting class came face-to-face with the real world last night thanks to a case study presented by KPMG.The case is designed to provide an introduction to the forensic accounting process, challenging student teams to analyze evidence as part of an earnings management investigation.

But terrorists don't pay the screenersBy Gary D. Zeune, CPAEven though the items and information are right in front of them, airport screeners miss banned items, according to a December 30, 2005, article in The Wall Street Journal. Auditors miss fraud for the same reasons screeners miss weapons. To test terrorism readiness, British authorities digitally inserted images of guns, knives and other banned objects into luggage. Initially the screeners' performance was mediocre. But with practice it improved dramatically.

Investigators say that the number of people trying to pull off low-level Ponzi schemes is increasing so quickly that they are now calling them "mini-Madoffs."And forensic accountants believe their skills will be even more valuable in this climate, as jilted investors are asking tough questions about where their money went. Business owners and governments are also being cautious, watching their funds with more scrutiny than ever.