Forensic Accountants Give Football Club A Sporting Chance

The owner of Leeds United FC has called in a team of forensic accountants to get to the bottom of financial chaos at the club after being told that its finances were “the worst mess” his advisors had ever seen.  Forensic accountants are often called in when a business’ finances are in a mess, as they are experts at unravelling complex financial trails and dealing with officials, such as bankers, who, in this case, have frozen the club’s accounts.

Owner Massimo Cellino seems to be determined to clean up the financial systems at Leeds and has already closed the club’s training ground for the summer to save money and now staff numbers are threatening to be cut after a winding-up petition was served on Leeds by Sport Capital, a company owned by David Haigh, the club’s former Managing Director.  The forensic accountants have been tasked to conduct a ‘root and branch’ investigation into previous spending at the club, which doesn’t tally with the revenue it has been receiving, leading some commentators to believe that there has been a certain amount of misappropriation.

Whatever has been going on, the forensic accountants will find out, as they will pore over every scrap of paper and every digital transaction until they get to the truth.  As one observer put it, these experts are masters at finding out ‘where the bodies are buried’, so will leave no stone unturned until every avenue of investigation has been exhausted.  Then, after their analysis is complete, if the findings lead to a court case, they will also be instrumental in getting the information in front of a judge, as they are well-versed in presenting their findings in legal matters.

Author: Roger Isaacs – 2 June 2014

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