http://www.scmp.com/print/news/china/article/1678318/milkman-rings-twice-zheng-junhuais-return-dairy-industry

http://www.scmp.com/print/news/china/article/1678319/prison-worked-wonders-my-health-says-entrepreneur-zheng-junhuai

The milkman rings twice: Zheng Junhuai’s return to the dairy industry

Sunday, 11 January, 2015, 3:38am

Alice Yan ting.yan@scmp.com

‘Dairy Godfather’ Zheng Junhuai has returned to the industry after a spell in jail, saying he is the man to clean up the baby milk formula business

The man once known as the “Dairy Godfather” of China is making a bid for another title: “Comeback King”.

A decade ago, Zheng Junhuai was one of China’s best-known entrepreneurs. In the late 1980s, he had taken over a dying Mongolian dairy workshop and revived it to become China’s biggest dairy producer in terms of revenue by the early 2000s.

But as Yili’s fortunes grew, Zheng’s standing abruptly fell.

On the afternoon of December 17, 2004 – Zheng remembers the date clearly – he was hauled away by Hohhot prosecutors. One year later he was thrown in jail with a six-year sentence for embezzling more than 16 million yuan (HK$20 million). Continue reading →

http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclass-cnt.aspx?id=20150110000128&cid=1203

Local debt accounting made messy by unclear numbers in China

Staff Reporter

2015-01-10

All provinces in China, except for Jiangsu and Shandong, have met the Jan. 5 deadline to submit reports classifying all local borrowings within their borders, including those of local government financing vehicles, to the Ministry of Finance for verification and confirmation, our Chinese-langguage sister paper the China Times reports. Continue reading →

Posted by LIN Liye, Year 4 undergrad at the School of Economics, Singapore Management University

On Friday, there was a Straits Times article on Paradise Group, a successful restaurant chain with operations mainly in Singapore and in other parts of Asia. Paradise Group is a familiar name among Singaporeans with its restaurants serving Chinese cuisine in both fine dining and casual settings. Personally, I was surprised that this unlisted restaurant chain would resort to such measures to defraud a local gas company on one of the most important cost items for a restaurant. Being a successful brand, I thought the CEO would have cared more about the reputation of the brand and himself instead of looking to cut corners by tampering with the gas meters.

This leads me to my main question today: Assuming Paradise Group is a listed company, would you still have enough faith in the financial statements of the company to believe them and invest in the company? Through this incident, the poor character of the management is exposed. As the saying goes, there is never just one cockroach in the kitchen. Who knows where else the management had cut corners, or if they had engaged in fancy accounting measures to make their accounting numbers nicer to minority investors?

Warren Buffett once said this: “Somebody once said that in looking for people to hire, you look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence, and energy. And if you don’t have the first, the other two will kill you. You think about it; it’s true. If you hire somebody without [integrity], you really want them to be dumb and lazy.” In this case, even if Paradise Group had fantastic accounting figures and they are a listed company, I would think twice before investing my money with the company.

http://www.scmp.com/print/business/companies/article/1677793/divvying-assets-bankruptcies-hong-kong-liquidators-need-sensitive

http://www.scmp.com/print/business/companies/article/1677794/liquidator-runs-after-mistress-bankrupt-former-hk-chief-secretary

In divvying up assets in bankruptcies, Hong Kong liquidators need sensitive touch

Friday, 09 January, 2015, 8:43am

Enoch Yiuenoch.yiu@scmp.com

Many people just can’t balance their income and expenses – liquidator Mat Ng

What’s common between fallen chief secretary Rafael Hui Si-yan, convicted inside trader Du Jun and US hedge fund Tiger Asia?

Mat Ng. The Managing director of JLA Asia, he is the liquidator currently handling Hui’s bankruptcy, selling his music record collection and other assets to repay his creditors. Ng has also worked for the Securities and Futures Commission to handle Du and Tiger Asia to compensate the investors who suffered as a result of their insider dealings.

Born in Shanghai, Ng moved to Hong Kong as a child. He grew up here before moving to Australia to attend high school and university and get a degree in accountancy. But rather than opting for mainstream accounting jobs, he focused on insolvency and liquidation. Continue reading →

http://www.wsj.com/articles/tailored-accounting-at-ipos-raises-flags-1420677431

Tailored Accounting at IPOs Raises Flags

Critics Say Companies’ Increased Use of Customized Earnings Measures Could Confuse Investors

MICHAEL RAPOPORT

Jan. 7, 2015 7:37 p.m. ET

Zoe’s Kitchen Inc. is serving up profits—but only after leaving some of its expenses off the menu.

Zoe’s, a chain of 125-plus Mediterranean-theme restaurants that went public in April, reported an adjusted profit of $13.2 million for the first nine months of 2014 under its own accounting treatments that strip out a variety of expenses. Including those expenses, as is required under standard accounting rules, Zoe’s reported a loss of $8.4 million. Continue reading →

Accounting Fraud Cases: Hongwei Technologies and China Hongxing Sports

Posted by Amy CHAN Wen Yi, final year undergrad at the School of Accountancy, Singapore Management University

Amy: I was reading through the articles on “Detecting Accounting Fraud in Asia” (Part 1, Part 2) written by KB and noted the fact that companies owning high net cash in the balance sheet does not mean that they represent “must-buy” investments. Some examples would be China Hongxing Sports Ltd, Hongwei Technologies Ltd and China Gaoxian Fibrefab Holdings Ltd.

Continue reading →

http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/opinion/accountants-need-to-be-strong-in-their-ethical-principles

Accountants need to be strong in their ethical principles

Kang Wai Geat and Ang Soon Lii

847 words

7 January 2015

Business Times Singapore

NEWS broke on Dec 12, 2014, that three former top executives of Singapore Technologies Marine (ST Marine) were charged in court for corruption and falsification of accounts. Among them is ST Marine’s former financial controller, a professional accountant, who was charged with making fictitious petty-cash claims amounting to over S$500,000 when there were none. It would be easy and convenient for accountants, dealt another blow by this debacle, to be generalised as being dishonest. Continue reading →

Reminiscence of an Asian accounting fraud case – Australia’s ABC Learning

Posted by Amy CHAN Wen Yi, final year undergrad at the School of Accountancy, Singapore Management University

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2008-08-27/fast-eddy-leaves-abc-learning-investors-reeling/490536

http://www.smh.com.au/business/fiveyear-suspension-for-former-abc-learning-auditor-20120808-23uj8.html​

http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2008/09/abcl-s30.html

‘Fast Eddy’ leaves ABC Learning investors reeling

Greg Hoy

Updated 28 Aug 2008, 10:26amThu 28 Aug 2008, 10:26am

Until six months ago, the world’s biggest child care operator, ABC Learning, looked like one of Australia’s great corporate success stories.

Looks can be deceiving, as ABC’s investors discovered the hard way. Continue reading →

http://www.forbes.com/sites/richardbehar/2014/12/31/the-madoff-five-historys-greatest-fraud-yields-one-of-the-greatest-legal-slugfests-of-our-time/print/

Richard BeharContributor

BUSINESS 12/31/2014 @ 11:48PM 21,561 views

Madoff’s Little Helpers: An Epic Trial, Puzzling Sentences

At first blush, they seem like ordinary people who simply had the misfortune to work for a man responsible for the greatest fraud ever. But in a complex trial, prosecutors convinced jurors that these five were the ones who made the Ponzi scheme work, winning guilty verdicts on all 59 counts.

THE MADOFF FIVE: History’s Greatest Fraud Yields One Of The Greatest Legal Slugfests Of Our Time

“What?! For Annette? How the hell did that happen?! Oh my God, I can’t believe Annette got only six years. Don’t tell me it’s gonna be like two months for [co-defendants] Jerry and George. That pisses me off, I’m sorry. I thought she was more guilty than all of them. The prosecutors must have been devastated. It’s kind of like a slap in the face to everybody who worked so hard getting these guys convicted, and for the jury who had to listen to the evidence for nearly six months.”

— Juror Sheila Amato, on sentence imposed on Annette Bongiorno, a former top manager at Madoff Securities

“Richard, these five loyal and dedicated employees were following the instructions of their immediate supervisor. They were not SEC-registered brokers and therefore had no reason to believe that they were violating any SEC regulations. They were always led to believe that the trades and the client assets were effected and held in Europe, as was common in our industry for this type of transaction. I alone am responsible for any wrongdoing on their part and will always suffer for the pain I caused my clients, my employees and their families.”

— Bernard L. Madoff, to author Continue reading →