Engagements

Following is a summary of selected engagements on which JE Moore has worked:

Embezzlement/Fraud

• Retained by a local CPA firm as an expert fraud and litigation consultant in connection with a suspected embezzlement situation within one of their audit clients. Reviewed documents, conducted interviews, and performed other investigative procedures. Recommended installation of computer key-logger system and video surveillance camera to aid in planned admission-seeking interview session.

• Forensic accounting investigation performed for attorneys retained by payroll and human resources outsourcing company in civil action against one of the company’s co-owners. The case involved various fraudulent disbursements schemes and corresponding manipulation of books and records to conceal the misappropriation of funds. The company won a $1.1 million civil judgment against the perpetrator and the matter has been turned over to the local District Attorneys' office for criminal prosecution.

• Retained by outside counsel for a home entertainment design/equipment company to assist in the investigation of an alleged fraudulent disbursements scheme carried out by one of the co-owners of the business. Case was settled prior to trial, after mediation.

• Assisted in-house counsel of a privately-owned engineering consulting firm with the investigation of an asset misappropriation scheme involving various forms of expense reimbursement abuse by one of the company’s branch managers. Preliminary investigative report was utilized by local and state law enforcement officials.

• Forensic investigation of alleged embezzlement of over $600,000 from a commercial insurance company. Conducted pre-exit interview of suspect fraudster, the Controller who had been with the company for over seven years. Assisted outside counsel in gathering loss-quantification data and other case information.

• Provided expert witness testimony at trial relating to alleged misrepresentations made by a once-popular television evangelist who was convicted and imprisoned for improperly selling time-share interests in a religious-oriented theme park and resort. Testimony focused on net present value and time value of money issues in connection with the sold property rights. (1996) 

• Assisted audit team with embezzlement investigation involving a major air carrier. The fraudulent disbursements scheme was discovered when the company’s new tax manager could not locate several fuel tax returns for which payments had been recorded. Inspection of cancelled checks revealed that the payments, over $50,000 in total, were made to the prior tax manager.

Internal/Special Investigations 

• Engaged by in-house counsel for the Ethics Compliance Team of the Board of Directors of a large multi-state oil and gas industry company, to perform internal investigations on two separate matters involving alleged financial wrongdoing by employees. The first case involved allegations made about an officer of the organization. Conducted interviews of ten employees, retained a private investigator, and reviewed company documents and records. Issued formal investigation report. The second case related to several ethics hotline calls in which several allegations about employee wrongdoing were made. Interviewed thirteen company insiders and one outsider, and reviewed numerous company documents. Provided preliminary draft of investigation report.

• Retained by the CFO of a foreign-owned $130 million/yr distribution company to investigate suspicious inventory-related activities by one of the company’s executives. After reviewing detail records and conducting interviews of knowledgeable parties, assisted management with successful resolution of the matter. Subsequently, was engaged by the company to make recommendations to improve policies, procedures, and internal controls for the affected process areas.

• As a consultant and expert witness, investigated financial records and interviewed various employees of a local public school, in connection with a lawsuit and countersuit situation. Retained by the outside attorneys of the County Board of Education, in anticipation of providing expert witness testimony at a special tribunal hearing.

• Investigated suspected embezzlement in a $4 million/yr construction company. Stockholder sensed that his accounting manager had stolen funds, but upon review of detail records, ratio analyses, and summary financial statements, and based on interviews of the suspect and members of management, it was concluded that improper activity had likely not occurred.

Accountant Malpractice Claims 

• In connection with Chapter 11 adversary proceedings involving a boat marina, was retained by the attorney for U.S. Trustee to provide forensic accounting and expert witness services pertaining to malpractice claims against the company’s external accountants. Assessed business viability and valuation issues, reviewed accounting records, plan of reorganization, disclosure statements, debtor’s monthly operating reports, and deposition transcripts. Gave deposition in connection with planned expert witness testimony at trial. Case settled prior to trial.  

• Provided expert consulting services to outside attorney for a CPA firm involved in a dispute with a former client who had claimed the accountant failed to meet minimum professional standards in connection with a financial statement compilation engagement.

Lost-Profits and Damage Analysis 

• Retained as consultant and expert witness by attorney for small construction company to prepare damage analysis regarding lost-profits and other claims against a former employee who allegedly diverted a $2.7 million business opportunity to his own newly-formed company.

• Prepared damage analysis in connection with accountant malpractice claim in Chapter 11 adversary proceeding (See above). Total damages estimated to be in excess of $1 million. Provided deposition testimony as expert witness. Case settled prior to trial.

Contractual Disputes

• Engaged by corporate attorney representing plaintiff, a former President of a $6 million/yr U.S. subsidiary of a German-based corporation. Provided expert consulting advice in the area of inventory and other GAAP-related  accounting issues. This assistance led to a timely and successful settlement of the contractual dispute which pertained to calculations of the officer's executive bonus compensation.

• Retained by defendants’ attorney to provide forensic accounting and litigation consulting services and possible expert witness testimony in connection with a civil suit filed by several project owners against a construction contracting company. Dispute involved alleged issues regarding misuse of project funds.

• Engaged to perform forensic accounting and other litigation support services for law firm representing defendant in civil case involving funds misappropriation claims. Case was settled prior to issuance of expert accountant report and deposition/trial testimony.

• Gave deposition testimony (as fact witness) regarding tortious interference claims against a $12 million/yr vending-industry company. Provided part-time CFO and turnaround consulting services for this financially-troubled company. Established accounting/reporting systems and helped develop budgets and business plan. Designed and helped maintain cash control systems and assisted with creditor negotiations, liquidation analyses, and asset disposals.

Corporate Recovery and Restructuring 

• Helped develop alternative financial plans for a severely-troubled company in the food service industry. The company had prior year revenues in excess of $35 million. JE Moore was referred-in by and worked closely with an award-winning crisis-management and business turnaround manager to assist with viability analyses, collateral analyses, and the development and execution of operating and liquidation plans. Payment of services was directly funded by the company's secured lender who was owed approximately $7 million.

• Retained by the workout division of a commercial bank to develop a detailed weekly/monthly cash forecasting tool to help the bank evaluate the ability of a $6 million/yr commercial construction company repay its delinquent bank line-of-credit. At the suggestion of bank officers, was then retained directly by the borrower to train the company in the use of the forecast methodology and to provide consulting advice to its management team

• Provided business turnaround advice and assistance to the owners of a $9 million/yr business relocation and storage company experiencing significant operating losses and poor cash flow. Implemented daily/weekly/monthly cash and collateral forecasting/analysis tool along with a monthly/yearly P&L budgeting system. Led an extensive clean-up accounting effort to obtain needed information for management decision-making and year-end audit needs. Analyzed business unit and customer profitability, overall pricing, and adequacy of accounting and financial reporting systems. Regularly reported information and recommendations to management and its bank throughout the business downsizing and improvement process.

• Key member of consulting team retained by interim CEO of a $600 million/yr publicly-held HVAC service and equipment distribution company. The company was suffering from declining profit margins, supply chain problems, and operational inefficiencies arising largely from the poor integration of numerous business acquisitions. Prepared or reviewed process maps and made recommendations for improvement in the areas of credit and collections, accounts payable, treasury management, and in the general accounting function. Was offered the CFO position when the individual holding that position resigned.

• After performing a preliminary investigative analysis of a severely-troubled $2 million/yr custom cabinet and store fixture design/construction company, was retained by the majority stockholder to serve as interim COO/CFO. Performed viability analyses, developed cash and collateral projection and control systems, and communicated and negotiated with creditors. Recommended dissolution and assisted in the orderly liquidation effort.

• Big-Five crisis/turnaround manager recommended my retention by stockholder of a $3 million/yr industrial parts/equipment distributor that was suffering from severe operating losses, poor accounting records, and excess and obsolete inventory. Performed financial statement analyses, developed detailed weekly/monthly cash and collateral projections, compiled actual-versus-budget reports, developed segmental profit/loss analysis, reconciled vendor accounts, and generated liquidation analysis.

• Worked closely with the President, external auditor, and outside investor group of an $8 million/yr HVAC contractor to help avert a cash-crisis situation due to severe financial distress. Helped generate accurate financial statements, 13-week and annual cash forecasts, and overall business plan.

• As part of a Big-Eight accounting firm litigation support team, assisted with large-scale forensic accounting investigation of a $100 million/yr privately-owned company involved in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding. Retained by attorneys for major bank that was owed $65 million by the debtor-in-possession company.

• Served as court-approved accountant in Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding involving a $5 million/yr construction contracting company. Retained by the company’s outside counsel several months prior to petition filing to provide a variety of CFO and controllership functions, including general accounting and financial statement preparation, cash flow, loan collateral, and viability analyses. Assisted with a variety of pre-petition planning and information gathering tasks, and with post-petition reporting to management, the creditors’ committee, and to U.S. bankruptcy court.

Internal Control and Antifraud Issues 

• Provided initial-year J-SOX (Japanese version of SOX) consulting and staffing assistance for a $250 million/yr sporting goods manufacturer and distributor, the U.S. subsidiary of a multi-billion dollar Japanese-based global public company. Responsibilities included overall scope determination, project and staffing plan development, design of documentation methodologies, identification of key processes and sub-processes, preparation of key process narratives and risk/controls matrixes.

• Retained by CEO of a small public company in the medical industry to develop initial-year Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Section 404 compliance plan and to provide related consulting assistance towards project completion.

• Engaged by a local CPA firm to assist on an internal controls assessment engagement for one of its largest clients, a publicly-held $8 billion/yr business outsourcing provider. Documented processes and key controls and made remediation recommendations in seven process areas.

• Retained by three different CPA firms, on separate engagements, to provide consulting assistance on initial-year SOX 404 projects for certain of their SEC-registered clients. Areas of focus included scope determination, project and staff planning, process, risk, and controls identification and documentation, and control environment assessment. The assignments involved the following organizations: 

                     -     $130 million/yr technology company

                     -     $60 million/yr telecommunications service company

                     -     $115 million/yr software development company

   

• Engaged by a CPA firm to help conduct an internal controls assessment and enhancement project for one of its clients, a $1 billion/yr pharmaceutical company. Helped developed the engagement methodology and provided assistance with documenting, testing, and evaluating risks/controls in key process areas. Provided recommendations for needed control improvements.

• Retained by the CFO of a publicly-held $450 million/yr distribution company to provide SOX 404 leadership and consulting assistance for the company’s initial-year compliance initiative. Focused on scope determination, project and staffing plan development, identification of key processes and sub-processes, and risk/controls matrixes and documentation methodologies.

• Provided SOX 404 consulting assistance to the Board of Directors and senior management of a publicly-held $400 million/yr distribution company. Helped establish year-one compliance methodologies, prepared detailed project and staffing plan, and led the project management and controls documentation functions. Performed comprehensive assessment of the capabilities and effectiveness of the company’s 12-person finance and accounting function.

• Engaged by the CEO of a foreign-owned $100 million/yr manufacturing/distribution company to evaluate the status of remediation efforts made to correct numerous internal control deficiencies cited in a prior-period internal audit report.  

• Assessed capabilities of the CFO of a foreign-owned $5 million/yr sporting goods manufacturing company and evaluated existing internal controls for design effectiveness as they related to asset misappropriation and financial reporting risks. Prepared comprehensive written and verbal reports to the parent company Chairman of the Board of Directors.

CFO/Controllership Services

• Provided CFO consulting and controllership staffing services to a $2 million/yr medical services company. Clean-up of QuickBooks accounting records included reconfiguration of chart of accounts and re-coding of transactions since inception of company. This allowed owners to obtain, for the first time, the accurate, meaningful financial statements they needed. Also, developed and implemented a customized P&L and cash budgeting/forecasting system, assessed capabilities of in-house bookkeeper, recommended replacement, and helped train/transition new hire for the position. As part of a planned bank line-of-credit refinancing, issued compiled financial statements and help present them and financial projections to bank.

• Enabled a commercial and residential real estate developer to continue with timely bill paying and bank loan draws for numerous banks/projects while the company's controller was on maternity leave. This assignment spanned ten weeks and consisted of a JE Moore associate working on-site for 2-3 days each week.

• Engaged by the owner of a $15 million/yr residential homebuilder to provide consulting and staff augmentation services involving the development of a P&L and cash budgeting/forecasting system and the modification and updating of a detailed key performance indicator tracking/reporting system.

• Provided CFO and controller consulting assistance to an affiliated group of construction companies with a combined revenue of $8 million/yr. Provided advice and assistance to clean-up the company's financial statements and job cost records which had become significantly out-of-balance due to a poorly-executed system conversion which occurred earlier in the year. Helped establish new accounting procedures, controls, and management reports, and trained accounting manager in their use.

• Served as interim CFO for real estate development company with five active office/retail/residential multi-use projects in four states, and operating through over 60 legal entities. Helped develop business plan and strategy to facilitate a planned $100 million debt and equity restructuring. Worked directly for the organization's Chairman and the President and provided technical and general guidance to the company controller. Assisted in recruiting permanent real estate industry CFO to the company and worked with the new hire to transition him into the organization.

• On numerous occasions, and serving in an independent accountant role, compiled or reviewed client financial statements in accordance with GAAP and SSARS standards. This segment of the JE Moore firm has been subjected to an independent peer review every three years, since 1990. The firm received the highly-regarded "unqualified, no comment" rating on each review. The peer review program is governed by the peer review programs of the Georgia Society of CPAs and the American Institute of CPAs.

• Provided part-time CFO services over a 17-year period for a consortium of the largest banks in Georgia. Designed, installed, and managed the accounting and reporting systems needed for this unique entity, which made over $100 million in mortgage loans. Was heavily involved in the development and administration of the liquidation/dissolution process, handling disposal of hard assets, employee terminations, office shutdown, financial reporting, cash forecasting, cash receipts and disbursements, and coordination of independent auditor procedures. Gave deposition testimony as fact witness in connection with lawsuit relating to the sale of the group’s remaining $65 million loan portfolio.

• Engaged by the owner of a $3 million/yr commercial painting contractor to perform SSARS review procedures and issue independent accountant’s report on the company’s financial statements. Procedures involved extensive accounting “clean-up” procedures in the areas of receivables, payables, revenues, and percentage-of-completion job cost accounting.

• Retained by the CFO of a $30 million/yr company that was divested from its prior parent company organization, a $1 billion/yr public company. Led the effort to design and implement new treasury management systems and processes and related banking relationships capable of handling the company's cash management needs as a stand-alone entity operating in over 35 states.

• Performed reconstructive accounting procedures in the areas of payables, revenues, costs, and percentage-of-completion accounting for a $4 million/yr waste-water facility construction contractor, in connection with a SSARS financial statement review engagement. Final report was used by the company to obtain a performance bond for large construction project. 

• Investigated and resolved $1.6 million accounting discrepancy discovered during year-end audit, and just prior to the unexpected death of the Controller, of a foreign-owned $100 million/yr distribution company. Led the investigative reconstruction effort, focusing on activity in inventory, payables, and inter-company accounts. Later retained by the company’s CFO to design and implement improved internal controls and procedures and a new financial reporting system, as well as a comprehensive twelve-month and three-year budgeting/forecasting and financial analysis system.

• Retained by a CPA firm to lead the large-scale accounting “clean-up” required in connection with their independent financial statement audit of a $20 million/yr medical industry service provider. Audit report was later used to facilitate a sale of the company.

• Reconstructed financial records and generated year-end financial statements for the stockholder of a $5 million/yr distributor. Involved extensive development of account analyses/reconciliations in the areas of cash, accounts receivable, inventory, prepaid assets, trade payables, accrued expenses, revenues, and direct/indirect costs and expenses.