Banco Espirito Santo v. BDO International

E.S. Bankest was a factoring firm, set up by Banco Espirito Santo to buy companies' accounts receivable at a discount. Factoring firms collect the full payments, pocketing the difference as profit. In the case of E.S. Bankest, the bills it supposedly collected were largely fake. A Miami-Dade jury found that BDO International isn't liable for millions in losses sustained by Banco Espirito Santo because of the failure of BDO Seidman to detect the massive fraud within E.S. During opening, Mark Raymond of Broad Cassel asked the jury to decide "Who's the Boss?" in this case. ''BDO International isn't the boss of anyone,'' argued Raymond, "The accounting firms are their own boss." Following through the defense case presentation with a slick closing powerpoint, Raymond reviewed the agreements between the bank and it's auditor, as well as the corporate structure of the BDO network. The clarity of the presentation of the evidence resulted in a jury verdict in less than one hour. - June 2009