Federal prosecutors have charged a former Ernst & Young partner with obstructing an investigation into a failed dot-com, making him one of the first to be charged for that offense under 2002's Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
As part of an ongoing investigation, Berkeley, Calif., resident Thomas Trauger, 40, was arrested and appeared before U.S. Magistrate James Larson Thursday. He was released on a $1 million bond and is expected to plead not guilty during his next court appearance.
Trauger is alleged to have altered documents relating to the firm's audits of San Francisco-based NextCard Inc., allegedly to provide a better basis for Ernst & Young's conclusions about the company's financial health. NextCard is now bankrupt. None of the charges derive from Trauger's work on the NextCard audits themselves.
That's quite a fall, from Ernst & Young partner to federal criminal defendant. Law.com has the full story here.