The Saga of Huber vs. The American Accounting Association: Forensic Accounting and the Law (original) (raw)

Social Science Research Network, 2017

Abstract

This article is a follow-up of my paper, “Does the American Accounting Association Exist? An Example of Public Document Research” (Huber, 2011) which chronicles the events that transpired from the publication of the paper in 2011 to the present. The article contributes to an understanding of the interplay between a forensic accounting investigation and the legal issues that a forensic accountant may encounter. The article also demonstrates the types of public document investigations that may have to be conducted both during and following a legal proceeding as part of litigation support. When auditing corporate financial statements it is important for auditors to inspect corporate documents, including articles of incorporation and bylaws, in order to determine the scope of authorizations that officers and directors are granted. Articles of incorporation and bylaws are part of the auditor’s permanent file. (Puncel, 2008). Forensic accountants likewise must inspect corporate documents such as articles of incorporation and bylaws. However, when conducting a forensic accounting investigation it is incumbent on a forensic accountant to also investigate publicly available documents for several reasons. First, subjects of the investigation may not be forthcoming in their production of documents or may not give candid responses to questions. They may withhold documents or be evasive in their response. Second, a forensic accountant must corroborate and confirm all evidence obtained from the subject of investigation. This is often done by searching publicly available documents. Third, some states prohibit anyone without a private investigator’s license from conducting certain types of investigations. Searching public documents may be the only alternative for obtaining the desired information. This rest of this article assumes a basic familiarity with the issues exposed in my previous paper.

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