White Collar Crime & Government Investigations

BDO Consulting’s White Collar Crime and Government Investigations practice is nationally recognized for providing superior client service to counsel involved in some of the most high-profile and complex investigations. We have assisted counsel representing companies, board members, executive officers and others in numerous high-stakes matters. Our professionals assist counsel in criminal matters before securities regulators and governmental enforcement bodies, including the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Department of Justice, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, federal and state banking regulators and self-regulatory enforcement agencies. BDO Consulting has substantial experience providing accounting and consulting services in connection with large-scale investigations relating to criminal prosecution involving a wide array of complex accounting and other financial reporting issues.

Representative White Collar and Government Investigations Matters

Representative matters of the White Collar Crime and Government Investigations practice have included:

  • Enron Corporation – We were retained by counsel to perform research and analyses on a number of cutting-edge treatments of financial accounting and reporting under generally accepted accounting principles. We also provided training to counsel on the various relevant accounting issues. We reviewed millions of accounting records and auditor working papers, and our work product was used by a defense group consisting of over ten law firms representing dozens of defendants.
  • AOL Time Warner, Inc. – We resolved the accounting for certain online advertising transactions totaling approximately $600 million. Our work included the review of millions of company, auditor, and counterparty records, interviews of over 100 individuals and meetings with the SEC staff.
  • Fannie Mae – We were retained by defendants’ counsel to provide expert and consulting services regarding various accounting issues, including alleged earnings management, debt repurchase transactions, REMICs, credit insurance and low-income housing tax credits.

Credit Crisis and Investment Fund Matters

Mortgage Lender and Subprime Matters – We have been retained to provide expert and consulting services to counsel representing some of the largest mortgage lenders. In this regard, we have evaluated the accounting for loan repurchase reserves, residual interests, securitization transactions, the allowance for loan losses, mortgage servicing rights and derivatives, among other complex accounting issues. We also have reviewed the work performed by independent accountants, conducted interviews of company management, drafted reports and made presentations to boards and regulators.

Investment Fund Fraud Investigations – We were retained to perform investigations of frauds at investment funds where we analyzed and reconstructed investor accounts for transactions ranging in volume from tens of thousands to millions of trading records over multi-year periods to determine whether they were bona fide and to compute amounts owed to investors. These matters have included high profile frauds, such as the Lipper Hedge Funds, Bear Stearns, Societe Generale Cowen, The Cassandra Group and the Bayou Hedge Fund Group.