Lessons Learned from “The Bouncing Czech”

brian_rowbotham.jpgBrian D. Rowbotham (pictured) spent 14 years investigating the international fraud case of Robert Ian Maxwell. So he knows a thing or two about forensic auditing.

The Maxwell Communication Corp. case was one of most spactacular business scandals of the 1990′s. Maxwell (“The Bouncing Czech”) died, somewhat mysteriously, while at sea on his yacht. His empire quickly crumbled in a sea of chaos and confusion, leaving $4 billion in debts and $2 billion in assets. Rowbotham & Co. was brought aboard by one of the jilted banks to work with Price Waterhouse and Robson Rhodes.

The story about Maxwell’s rise and fall is dramatic enough. But Rowbotham’s lessons for CPAs, as told to Damien English at CalCPA, are especially interesting and useful. READ MORE →

Did You Know?

In the next 8 seconds…

  • 8 babies will born, all but one of them in India and China.
  • India and China each churn out three times more college graduates than the U.S..
  • All of them speak English.
  • By 2010 China will be the largest English-speaking nation on Earth.

Bert Trexler, chief executive of the Pennsylvania Institute of CPAs, has been using the video to open his state-of-the-state presentations.

It’s a sobering and thought-provoking 8 minutes.