Chicago (Nov. 15, 2002) BDO Seidman has withdrawn a lawsuit which sought to release documents that contradicted statements by Public Company Accounting Oversight Board chairman William Webster regarding BDO’s dismissal as auditor to a small technology company where Webster served as head of the audit committee.
BDO Seidman said that while serving as auditor to U.S. Technologies it had raised concerns about internal control problems at the company.
One month later, BDO was dismissed. Webster has stated that he didn’t recall being told of BDO’s concerns. He said BDO was dismissed because they were too expensive and not as a result of the accounting concerns. U.S. Technologies is currently under investigation for fraud.
On Nov. 7, U.S. Technologies allowed BDO to release two confidential documents that supported the firm’s contention that the concerns were discussed.
The lawsuit was filed last week in a U.S. district court.
In a statement BDO Seidman said, “For the past week, BDO Seidman has been reluctantly pulled into the national political spotlight due to comments in the media attributed to representatives of U.S. Technologies. Only U.S. Technologies can say why they chose to dismiss BDO Seidman. That is their right. BDO has merely stated facts to correct misleading information in these media reports.”
