Koss fires back! American Express is sued over Sachdeva Embezzlement! The only winners here – THE LAWYERS!

What a tangled web we weave.  Sue Sachdeva first embezzles millions (I mean a bunch) of dollars to support her (now claimed) medical condition (which make here innocent of her actions?).  Koss executives must have had their (Koss) headphones on while playing Guitar Hero to have missed such a massive fraud.  Grant Thornton, the CPA firm, says they aren’t liable for the loss cause they weren’t hired to evaluate internal controls (really?).  And, there is no doubt that any insurance company involved will say that they don’t have to pay a claim since other folks didn’t do what they were supposed to do.

With all that said… Koss would be out more money and Sue would be buying her spring wardrobe if it weren’t for the diligence of American Express who caught this in the first place.

Ah, but the story goes like this (no good dead goes unpunished) –

Koss Sues AMEX over Embezzlement Case

By Jay Sorgi

MILWAUKEE – The local headphone company Koss is suing American Express, claiming the credit card company failed to set up an anti-money laundering program.

Koss is blaming American Express for a lack of oversight in allowing former finance V-P Sue Sachdeva to embezzle tens of millions of dollars in company cash.

The suit seeks damages and compensation for the loss.

WHAT’S THE BASIS FOR THE AMEX SUIT?

The suit, filed Thursday in Maricopa County, Ariz., says American Express failed to live up to the requirements of the Bank Secrecy Act when it discovered that Sachdeva was embezzling money from Koss to pay her bills, but made a decision not to tell Koss immediately.

The Bank Secrecy Act requires financial institutions to have programs to detect and report suspicious activity that might be indicative of financial crimes.

American Express continued to process the payments for Sachdeva’s bills from Koss accounts, at the rate of $1 million per month, because Sachdeva was one of AmEx’s best customers and AmEx was profiting from her business, the suit claims.

As a result, Koss lost $20 million, the suit says. Koss is seeking unspecified punitive damages and compensation for the loss.

LOCAL RISK ASSESSMENT SPECIALIST INTERVIEW:

Deborah Bidwell is an identity theft risk management and fraud prevention specialist who lives in the greater Milwaukee area and a go to person for me in situations like this.  I had the opportunity to talk with her this a.m. and here are some of her comments:

What impact is this story having on the business community up in Milwaukee?

It has really rocked them to their core, and many are really scrambling to figure out what to do to avoid this happening to them.  They have lots of questions and the biggest is “how did this happen”?

So who does get the blame?

Ultimately the CEO who is trying to shift the blame to anyone besides him.

What about Sue Sachdeva?

She is guilty I am sure, BUT if the company is working to actively avoid this from happening in the first place she would never have been in the position of doing this to the company, her family and herself.

One thing we can’t do is change the KOSS situation.  That appears to be up to attorneys.  But, the question for other firms is how can they prevent this from happening to them?

At the risk of sounding self serving, firms would be well advised to have someone familiar with risk management assess where they are and what area(s) might be vulnerable to fraud. This should be done by someone other than your CPA, cause just like KOSS the CPA was too involved to catch it.

But shouldn’t the CPA catch something like this?

The CPA for Koss was only doing the audits for the SEC under the SOX Act.  They didnt take care of the day to day bill paying, or watching monthly bills or for that matter evaulate KOSS’s internal controls.

So just curious, how often do you get called on to do risk assessments and do companies really do that before they find there is a fraud?

Well…let’s say business has definitely seen a dramatic increase since so much fraud has come to light.  I consult with businesses in the US as well as a few in Europe helping them avoid fraud before it happens.  And frankly that is the key.  For many medium to smaller concerns, this really has not been a big issue till, well, all the fraudsters hit the news.  Now I’m getting calls for folks who want preventive medicine rather than a hospital visit after a massive fraud.  I suppose you know what I mean by that…?

Last Question – Since you are in the Milwaukee area, how can people get in touch with you if they want to discuss risk assessment?

They can reach me through my website: www.dlbandassociates.com, or simply give me a call at 262-945-7844.

FINAL COMMENTS:

As a business ethics and fraud prevention expert, I agree with Deborah about the need for preventive medicine.  Kinda cute how she put that.  From a practical perspective the cost to prevent a crime, like the one that KOSS Corp. has experienced and the (what I know will be massive) legal fees that follow, is well worth the investment.  For now, the only winners in this mess are the attorneys.

AS ALWAYS YOUR COMMENTS ARE WELCOME!

Koss and Sue Sachdeva’s Accounting debacle. Terrence Rice, a Milwaukee CPA, comments…

As a business ethics speaker and author…I find myself amazed at times with what comes up daily to write about.  Of course, to Milwaukee…the who Koss mess with Sue Sachdeva’s embezzlement is unique (to say the least) and creating quite a stir.  Not only does this reflect poorly on senior management, but also on the independent accounting firm.  But, of course, to top it off is the Sue’s claim on not being guilty due to a mental/emotional spending disorder.  That’s worth following this story in and of itself.  But…

Rarely when I write these entries do I get a response so well thought out as the one I received 30 or so minutes ago.  It was so well done that I asked the author – Mr. Terry Rice, CPA, if I might feature it in a new blog entry.  He was kind enough to say yes.  Read below and feel free to join in on the discussion.  For sure, we will have plenty to discuss for months to come…!

The Milwaukee business community is wondering how a company with $38 million in annual sales could have lost $30 million in an embezzlement.  This goes beyond being just a crime, it is an embarrassment.

The internal controls were lax, the separation of duties were lax, the audit committee was lax, the Grant Thornton auditing firm was lax, the CEO was lax and on and on.  Plenty of blame to go around.  The Koss Corporation and the Koss family had ultimate trust in their VP of Finance, Sue Sachdeva. She purchased expensive items using her own American Express account and then fraudulently wired Koss Corporation funds to pay the bills. The IRS will be knocking soon.  If the American Express fraud department hadn’t reported it, she would probably still be doing it. As I tell my clients, you cannot trust anyone.

In a 2007 interview, Michael Koss complained that the new costs associated with Sarbanes-Oxley were particularly galling to his family.  The problem is that Sarbanes-Oxley did not go far enough.  Sarbanes-Oxley, for all its reputation as a hard-hitting law, fails to correct a crucial accounting system weakness: the potential for what is called the “moral seduction” of outside auditors.  Executives still have too much control over the hiring and firing of auditors, which discourages accountants from providing failing critical reports. A company’s culture between auditors and management usually becomes entrenched.
To see the real-world consequences here, just look at Enron.  Its auditor, Arthur Andersen, came to identify so strongly with the client that its judgment was compromised, and the demise of one led to the demise of the other.

SarbOx was supposed to change all that.  Yet the law leaves in place strong incentives for auditors to please clients even as it mandates complex new rules that are supposed to make corporate books more credible.  The system needs to be changed.  The auditors need to make independent assessments instead of just ratifying clients’ accounting. The auditors need to be hired by boards rather than company executives and be retained for a fixed period without the chance of being rehired.

In the 2007 interview, Koss said that “it’s annoying having to deal with this extra layer of bureaucracy.  Small companies like ours are spending hours in auditing committees that would be better spent on strategic planning.”  Sarbanes-Oxley requires that there be an audit committee that is independent of management. There had to be some indication in the Koss numbers that something was wrong.  The other executives and the members of the board of directors had a duty to pay closer attention to the numbers. If the audit committee is filled with laymen or buddies of the management, business will continue as usual.

The audit committee is uniquely suited to assess risk and internal financial controls and to ensure that company strategy and finances are aligned.  It is time for this committee to assess its unique role as messenger to the rest of the board of directors and to shareholders on all matters of risk management and financial-reporting judgments and to bolster trust. Brilliant and curious individuals are what audit committees desperately need, especially during these times of economic turmoil. The audit committee needs to concentrate on protecting shareholders from misleading accounting and outright fraud.

The audit committee of Koss Corporation and the outside auditing firm, Grant Thornton, failed in their responsibilities.  Don’t let your company be the next Koss Corporation.

Terrence Rice is a Milwaukee CPA and is author of www.bankembezzlement.blogspot.com and www.churchembezzlement.blogspot.com

A BIG TIME OUT HERE…now as I was preparing to post this entry I saw an article that knocked my socks off.  Article headline:  GRANT THORNTON FIRES BACK AT KOSS CORP.  The article in the Business Journal of Milwaukee states:

After its firing as outside auditor for Koss Corp., which is reeling from a $31 million embezzlement case, Grant Thornton LLP fired back that it was never hired to evaluate “internal controls” at Koss.

Allow me to show my ignorance, but as a former CPA (tax partner in a firm in NC) I thought that an AUDIT required and included an evaluation of the company’s system of internal controls as a basis or foundation for the opinion that they render.  IF the internal controls were lacking, either the CPA firm would have to do more work or state that an opinion as to the fairness of the firms records could not be issued.  (Layman’s terms).  So please somebody tell me what I’m missing! The excuse for not detecting a MAJOR FRAUD was we weren’t hired to evaluate the “internal contols”… REALLY? The full Business Journal article is here.  I’m speechless…  Well back to Terry…

Terry…thanks for following the story (although I imagine that it’s hard not to up in your neck of the woods).  More important thank you for your thoughful comment.

IF YOU WISH TO COMMENT…feel free to do so…AFTER ALL YOUR COMMENTS ARE ENCOURAGED AND WELCOME.