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NGC Attorneys Richard Witkowski and Christopher Yingling recently obtained summary judgment in favor of an accounting firm. The case dealt with a former client of the accounting firm who had perpetrated a multi-million dollar fraud against numerous wealthy investors. The plaintiffs were three of approximately forty-five investors who claimed they were defrauded of about $50 million by the accounting firm’s client.

The case arose out of a Ponzi scheme involving the purchase and sale of off-the-road, heavy-duty mining tires. The plaintiffs alleged that they had loaned $2.8 million to the accounting firm’s client to finance tire purchases, and the accounting firm’s client never repaid them. The accounting firm’s client pled guilty to criminal charges arising from the Ponzi scheme, and the plaintiffs sought to recover their losses from the accounting firm, which had prepared tax returns and compiled financial statements for the client. The plaintiffs sued the accounting firm for accounting malpractice, conspiracy, and fraud, claiming that they relied upon the financial statements and tax returns when they made the loans. The Court granted summary judgment in favor of the accounting firm and found that it was not responsible for the plaintiffs’ losses.

This was the third case in which NGC Attorneys Witkowski and Yingling successfully defended the accounting firm against claims brought by various investors who alleged that they were defrauded by the accounting firm’s client.