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Accounting News Roundup: Andersen Fires Back at Andersen | 06.15.17

Arthur Andersen & Co.

Andersen vs. Andersen

Just when you thought Andersen Tax was having its way with its French rival, Arthur Andersen & Co., in the battle over the firm’s name, AA&Co. has issued a press release declaring its intent to sue Andersen Tax in the U.S., Brazil, and India. I’m quoting at length here (translated from French) because it’s too incredible not to share:

Since its operational reopening on 1 March 2017 with members in 16 countries and 26 offices, the new ARTHUR ANDERSEN & Co. network has been subjected to various hostile and serious maneuvers as well as fierce, defamatory and Denigrating on behalf of the American company ANDERSEN TAX LLC, its representatives and its accomplices.

Members legally affiliated to the ARTHUR ANDERSEN & Co. network in the United States, India and Brazil have been forced, under the constant threat and harassment of ANDERSEN TAX LLC, to stop using the ANDERSEN brands, , “ARTHUR ANDERSEN” or any other name with the name “ANDERSEN”.

The maneuvers perpetrated by ANDERSEN TAX LLC have come to light in proceedings in France, India and the United States, by transmitting false and misleading documents to the Judges likely to deceive all professionals, registrars National brands and courts.

In view of these extremely serious acts which reaffirm the absence of any rights legitimately acquired by ANDERSEN TAX LLC on the historical marks “ARTHUR ANDERSEN” and “ANDERSEN”, the French company ARTHUR ANDERSEN & Co., on instructions from its President Mr. Stéphane Laffont-Réveilhac, referred the following questions to the Tribunal Correctionnel de Paris by way of a direct criminal summons against ANDERSEN TAX LLC and its President, Mr. Mark L. Vorsatz, the Attorney General of New York in Manhattan, Attorney General of Bombay in India, Prosecutor General of Sao Paulo in Brazil, Attorney General of Willemstad in Curaçao in the Netherlands Antilles.

As wonderful as that is, the release ends with a flourish, featuring this breathless quote from Mr. Laffont-Réveilhac:

Officers of ANDERSEN TAX LLC deliberately cheated and lied by abusing the public, Judges, ARTHUR ANDERSEN Elders, their own employees and correspondents around the world while outrageously disparaging the ARTHUR ANDERSEN & Co. network, its Affiliated members and its managers.These fraudulent, shocking and perfectly inexcusable maneuvers are in total contradiction to the historical values of ARTHUR ANDERSEN, which the directors of ANDERSEN TAX LLC are claiming, and our network will emerge stronger from these We are free and proud of the work accomplished with my Associates to restore ARTHUR ANDERSEN’s excellence worldwide.

This is all happening in the wake of court victories for Andersen Tax around the world as the rightful owner of the Andersen name and trademark. Andersen Tax called this latest press release, “an attempt to distract attention from the fact that the group claiming to be Arthur Andersen & Co (formerly QJMB), indeed has no valid rights to the Andersen name.”

At this point, I’m mostly curious as to how long AA&Co. can keep this up. I can’t imagine that international trademark disputes are cheap to litigate.

Obamacare taxes

According to several reports, the Senate may keep some of the taxes under the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) in its version of a replacement bill to avoid making massive cuts to Medicaid. The most likely to stay is the net investment income tax, “which imposes a 3.8 percent surtax on capital gains, dividends and interest” on individuals that have income that meet the set thresholds for modified adjusted gross income.

Accountants behaving badly

Although the vast majority of accountants appearing in this space have, or are accused of, taking money from others, today we feature a young man who was serving a legit function, it just so happens, it was part of an illegal business:

Alexandro Velasquez, 20, acted as an accountant for his uncle’s drug business, according to prosecutors, counting the proceeds of cocaine and marijuana sales and sending the funds Mexico.

There’s probably a number of employers that would be willing make use of Mr. Velasquez’s accounting experience within the confines of the law, but they’ll have to wait until he’s released from prison.

Previously, on Going Concern…

Adrienne Gonzalez wrote about LinkedIn creeps. In Open Items, an internal audit offer.

In other news:

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