MIAMI AP – Accounting firm BDO Seidman must pay $170 million in compensation and provide punitive damages for its negligence in failing to reveal massive fraud in a financial services company backed by a Portuguese bank, a jury decided Monday.
Six jurors deliberated only an hour to lay financial blame on BDO Seidman and find that the bank, Banco Espirito Santo, was not negligent in allowing the fraud to take place. The speed of the verdict surprised many in the courtroom, mainly because it was a complicated trial process that has lasted for months.
