KPMG's acknowledgement of “unlawful conduct” in selling questionable tax shelters may help the firm it in its negotiations with criminal prosecutors, but it may make big civil fines more likely.Big Four accounting firm KPMG, in a statement last week, said it “deeply regrets” tax shelter abuses and “takes full responsibility.” Its admission may hurt the other defendants who also worked on selling the tax shelters and were sued by investors along with KPMG, the Wall Street Journal reported.The other firms include: Sidley Austin Brown & Wood, which provided advice to investors;

The Securities and Exchange Commission has started a formal investigation into accounting irregularities at the third-largest office supplies retailer.OfficeMax Inc., headquartered in Itasca, Ill., had conducted its own investigation after a supplier alleged that OfficeMax employees acted “inappropriately” in requesting payments. Six employees were fired earlier this year.The company revealed that employees had falsified $3.3 million worth of rebates allegedly owed to OfficeMax by suppliers, The Chicago Sun-Times reported.

American International Group (AIG), in a long-delayed regulatory filing, said Tuesday that it overstated net income by $3.9 billion for the past five years.The New York-based insurer also said that it cut its net worth by $2.26 billion through the end of 2004. The figure is less than the $2.7 billion that was previously estimated.The report, which was delayed three times, was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The decades-long relationship between PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) and American International Group (AIG) is being scrutinized as regulators allege the accounting firm overlooked problems and issued false audit reports.Advertisement

If the former chief executive is found responsible for accounting irregularities at American International Group Inc., as a Wall Street Journal report suggests, the company could try to recover some of his pay under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.The Journal reported that former top executive Maurice R. “Hank” Greenberg and former Chief Financial Officer Howard I. Smith may have been behind some of the improper accounting that will eventually result in more than four years of earnings restatements.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is reviewing accounting practices across the insurance industry to determine whether it may become “the next big one,” in terms of corporate scandals, an FBI assistant director told the New York Times.The comments of Chris Swecker, who oversees the FBI's financial crimes unit, came as agents across the country were instructed to look for accounting irregularities similar to ones ensnaring American International Group, which is being investigated by multiple state and federal authorities."I'm not going to say it is the next crisis, but I will say we

As any small-business owner knows, fraud, waste and abuse are hardly confined to major corporations.Scandals featuring high-flying executives living lavish lifestyles can grab headlines - and in the case of Enron, scandal can even make it onto the big screen. Smaller-scale crimes, however, can also levy serious damage. According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, the most costly abuses occur in organizations with fewer than 100 employees.

The latest in a string of high-profile data thefts seems to have originated with retailer Polo Ralph Lauren Inc., the Associated Press reported.Data was reportedly stolen from the popular clothing retailer, forcing banks and credit card companies to inform 180,000 customers that their credit-card information may have been exposed.HSBC North America, a division of London-based HSBC Holdings PLC, has begun notifying holders of the HSBC-issued, General Motors-branded MasterCard that criminals may have obtained access to their credit card information and that the cards should be replaced, th

With the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's chief regulator acknowledging it could take years to straighten out accounting problems at Fannie Mae, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan is now calling for strict limits on the companies' $1.5 trillion in holdings, the New York Times reported.Greenspan testified Tuesday before the Senate Banking Committee, taking issue with the enormous portfolios held by the two companies, which represent nearly a quarter of the home-mortgage market.