noblepa wrote: ↑Mon Feb 14, 2022 8:10 pm
humblescribe wrote: ↑Mon Feb 14, 2022 5:10 pm
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics ... li=BBnb7Kz
Not going to end well for TFG. It is rare indeed for an accounting firm to tell the world not to rely upon the past ten years of financial statements that we have been preparing and signing off on. Mazars might be feeling some heat (don't know if true or not), and the senior partners decided to cut bait rather than risk additional scrutiny and license issues going forward.
So, it looks like there is a lucrative business opportunity for a new tax preparer.
I bet there are any number of extremely competent seasonal tax preparers out there that also offer notary public and document shredding in addition. I see their employees on street corners dressed in costumes or twirling oversized arrows to attract attention. Pro tip: Get your fees in advance and make sure the check clears before starting work.
It is less clear who will want to step into the morass of preparing financial statements for the various companies and individuals.
The articles I've read say "The company also advised the Trump Organization to inform any recipients of the statements, such as lenders or insurers, to not rely on the statements."
Any bets on whether that will happen? As if Trump is going to write his lenders a letter and say "You know those audited financial statements I gave you to obtain that $500,000,000 loan? You can't rely on them."
I think that Mazars may take a small hit on this. Even though they are not legally liable for any inaccurate information that Trump may have given them, potential clients may think that Mazars SHOULD have found the fraud. It will probably blow over, however.
Captain Renault: I'm shocked! Shocked to find that gambling is going on in here.
[a croupier hands Renault a pile of money]
Croupier: Your winnings, sir.
Captain Renault: [sotto voce] Oh, thank you very much.
It is unclear just what services Mazars provided to TFG and his myriad entities. For traditional financial statements like reviews and audits, historical costs must be used for all assets acquired. For personal financial statements, the person provides the figures for fair market values of property owned and liabilities owed. Compilations can be all over the map, and I would assume that no one asked for compilations on TFG's properties.
I would assume that many of TFG's properties have some sort of cross collateralization provisions, including personal guarantees in case of default. So, inflated asset values can make it much easier to assert that the borrower is not in default or in violation of loan covenants.
I think it is safe to say that TFG played games with the FMV of the properties that he owned outright and also the FMV of the properties owned with others, especially when one generally discounts tenancies in common or partnership interests. I think that it is further safe to say that Mazars did not wish to rock the boat too much; the partner(s) more or less went along with whatever information they received.
When an accountant publicly announces that it is distancing itself from their work in prior years, this is rare indeed. I have never personally performed any work of this magnitude, evah. But I can say that my belt-and-suspenders mentality would be to do a little do diligence every so often so as to have some sort of assurance that values are not overstated/understated (depending upon client bias, you know) by a magnitude that would make me balk at issuing the statements.
I think this is more damaging to TFG than the Jan. 6 commission/investigation and the criminal/civil investigations that are ongoing. If TFG cannot borrow any more money, and if he cannot find another accountant willing to take him on as a client, things could go from bad to worse quickly when those loans become due and payable.
Then he'll be living with Melanoma and the kid in a single-wide in the Poconos.
Donald Trump Jr echoed his father's words on Twitter, writing: 'BREAKING: Donald Trump and the RNC funded SIGINT collection AGAINST the Executive Office of the President of the United States, just like the Russians do. This is TREASON!
Philly Boondoggle
