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PwC to face U.S. lawsuit over Colonial Bank collapse – court ruling

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Accounting firms PricewaterhouseCoopers and Crowe Horwath must face a
lawsuit accusing them of professional malpractice and breach of
contract for not catching a fraud that led to the 2009 collapse of
Colonial Bank, a federal judge has ruled.

Filed in 2011 by the bank’s parent Colonial BancGroup Inc and its
trustee, the lawsuit accused the accounting firms of making “reckless
and grossly inaccurate” reports to the bank’s board, allowing Colonial
to conceal a seven-year fraud that drained it of $1.8 billion.

In an opinion on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Keith Watkins rejected
the auditors’ motion to dismiss the complaints, saying the bank made
“plausible” claims that PwC and Crowe breached their contract with
Colonial.

PwC was the public auditor for Montgomery, Alabama-based Colonial
before its collapse, while Crowe provided internal audit services.

Caroline Nolan, a spokeswoman for PwC, said it audited Colonial “in
full accordance with professional standards” and is confident it will
prevail on the merits of the case, which will now go forward in district
court.

Jan Lippman, a spokeswoman for Crowe, said the audit firm was hired
to help Colonial with internal services but did not serve as the bank’s
internal auditor. She said the claims are without merit.

Rufus Dorsey, a lawyer for Colonial, said he was pleased with the decision.

The fraud, one of the biggest stemming from the last decade’s
mortgage crisis, went undetected until a raid by federal authorities on
Aug. 3, 2009. One of the largest U.S. regional banks, Colonial was seized by regulators and filed for bankruptcy protection later that month.

PwC and Crowe are facing a similar lawsuit by the Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation, receiver for the bank. The 2012 FDIC lawsuit said
that PwC and Crowe missed “huge holes” in Colonial’s balance sheet
caused by the diversion of money to now bankrupt Taylor Bean &
Whitaker Mortgage Corp.

Lee Farkas, former chairman of Taylor Bean, was sentenced to 30 years
in prison in 2011 for his role in the fraud. Several other officers of
Taylor Bean and Colonial pleaded guilty for their roles in the scheme.

In Tuesday’s opinion, Watkins rejected Crowe’s argument that it had
no professional duty to Colonial because it was not the bank’s internal
auditor but merely a provider of services, calling that a “reed thin”
distinction.

He also rejected PwC’s argument that the negligence claim against it
must be dismissed because Colonial’s own negligence played a role in its
fate, saying that is a question of fact for a jury to decide.

The case is: The Colonial BancGroup Inc et al v
PricewaterhouseCoopers et al, U.S. District Court, Alabama Middle
District, No 11-cv-00746 (Reporting by Dena Aubin; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Tom Brown)

Reuters

Kofi Oppong Kyekyeku

I am a Ghanaian Broadcast Journalist/Writer who has an interest in General News, Sports, Entertainment, Health, Lifestyle and many more.

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