July 12, 2005
Thanks to PWC for Corroborating Yesterday's Blog Entry
Wow, we wrote about fraud in T&E yesterday but we were surprised to see this today. I guess fraud in T&E can come from the auditors or the registrants. Not a great example when the firm that is checking the books is cooking the books.
"PWC settles false claims charges with $41.9 mln
Tue Jul 12, 2005 7:32 AM BST
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers has agreed to pay $41.9 million to settle charges that it made false claims to the U.S. government for travel reimbursement, the Justice Department said on Monday.
The settlement stemmed from charges that PWC failed to consistently disclose travel rebates it received for airline, hotel, rental car and other travel services and did not reduce the claims made to the government by the amounts of the rebates, the department said in a statement.
The accusations were first made in a whistle-blower lawsuit against the firm in 2001.
PWC spokeswoman David Nestor said the firm was "pleased to have resolved this matter with the federal government."
"The firm's former policy that gave rise to this matter was changed in 2001 before we were aware of any government investigation," Nestor said.
PWC "knowingly presented claims for payment to the United States for amounts greater than the travel expenses actually incurred and in violation of contractual provisions...," the U.S. Justice Department said.
In a similar 2003 case in which it was accused of overbilling corporate clients, PWC settled its share of a class action suit for $54.5 million"
If you need assistance in rapidly and cost effectively managing your Sarbanes-Oxley compliance efforts, T&E and all other important areas, see www.issuescentral.com or call 800.410.6681 x 112 to learn more about the Compliance Playbook(tm).
"PWC settles false claims charges with $41.9 mln
Tue Jul 12, 2005 7:32 AM BST
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers has agreed to pay $41.9 million to settle charges that it made false claims to the U.S. government for travel reimbursement, the Justice Department said on Monday.
The settlement stemmed from charges that PWC failed to consistently disclose travel rebates it received for airline, hotel, rental car and other travel services and did not reduce the claims made to the government by the amounts of the rebates, the department said in a statement.
The accusations were first made in a whistle-blower lawsuit against the firm in 2001.
PWC spokeswoman David Nestor said the firm was "pleased to have resolved this matter with the federal government."
"The firm's former policy that gave rise to this matter was changed in 2001 before we were aware of any government investigation," Nestor said.
PWC "knowingly presented claims for payment to the United States for amounts greater than the travel expenses actually incurred and in violation of contractual provisions...," the U.S. Justice Department said.
In a similar 2003 case in which it was accused of overbilling corporate clients, PWC settled its share of a class action suit for $54.5 million"
If you need assistance in rapidly and cost effectively managing your Sarbanes-Oxley compliance efforts, T&E and all other important areas, see www.issuescentral.com or call 800.410.6681 x 112 to learn more about the Compliance Playbook(tm).
