Jimmy Pappas advises legal counsel, management, and boards of directors on accounting, internal control, and financial matters in the context of internal investigations, civil and criminal litigation, business disputes and corporate governance. He has over 25 years of experience in the forensic and financial statement audit disciplines of accounting – thirteen of which were with Big Four accounting firms – and has served clients internationally.
Mr. Pappas has consulted as an accounting, audit, and economic damages expert on disputes adjudicated in federal courts, state courts and international venues. He has testified as an accounting expert on behalf of regulatory agencies such as the US Securities and Exchange Commission, has been engaged as a consulting expert by defendants in criminal securities fraud litigation initiated by the US Department of Justice, and has advised plaintiffs and defendants in litigation involving such matters as: post–acquisition disputes, shareholder disputes, failed investment disputes, intellectual property disputes, valuation and insolvency disputes, breach of contract, financial statement fraud, accounting malpractice and business interruption.
Mr. Pappas also conducts internal investigations at corporations and governmental entities involving such issues as the integrity of financial statements, corruption, misappropriation of assets, and internal control failures. His work in this area is often in response to regulatory inquiry.
- Engaged by the defendants as an accounting (GAAP), financial statement audit (GAAS), and insolvency expert witness in fraudulent conveyance litigation initiated by a bankruptcy trustee against the former executives of a bankrupt manufacturer and its external auditors. Testified in deposition.
- Engaged by the defendant as an expert witness in a criminal insider trading case brought by the Department of Justice, to illustrate how the financial nature of the alleged insider information could have been independently ascertained through the use of publicly available information. Testified in federal court.
- Engaged by the respondent in an International Chamber of Commerce litigation to opine on the application of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles in interpreting relevant provisions of a licensing agreement in the biopharmaceutical sector. Testified at an ICC trial.
- Engaged by the plaintiff as a valuation expert witness in the context of a shareholder litigation pending in a Massachusetts state court pertaining to, among other areas, the valuation of an educational institution in China. Issued an expert report.
- Engaged by the Securities and Exchange Commission as an accounting expert witness in a financial statement fraud litigation against the Chief Financial Officer of a publicly traded company. Testified in deposition.
- Engaged by the Securities and Exchange Commission as an accounting expert witness on a fraud case, opining on the misappropriation of investor money by executives of a life insurance settlement hedge fund. Testified in federal court.
- Engaged by a Fortune 1000 publicly traded high-technology company to quantify economic damages suffered by the company as a result of a cyber-attack, prepare a comprehensive report of findings, and assist the company in negotiations with its business interruption insurance carriers.
- Engaged at the direction of the Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to investigate nationally-publicized operational control failures at the Registry of Motor Vehicles in connection with multiple vehicular fatalities involving a Massachusetts commercial driver whose license should have been revoked. Prepared a publicly available report detailing root-cause analysis, remediation steps, and recommendations for operational, governance, and internal control improvements.
- Engaged by the audit committee of a Fortune 1000 publicly traded high-technology company to investigate allegations of financial statement fraud and FCPA violations.
- Engaged by a Fortune 1000 publicly traded high-technology company to conduct a post-acquisition FCPA investigation at a newly acquired entity in Brazil.
- Engaged by the defendant, an executive in a Fortune 1000 publicly traded pharmaceutical company subject to a criminal securities fraud indictment, as a consulting expert for the purpose of evaluating the merits of the accounting allegations, as alleged by the Department of Justice.
- Engaged as a neutral to arbitrate a post-acquisition dispute involving an earn-out.
- Engaged by the controller of a Fortune 1000 publicly traded conglomerate to assist in the preparation of a response to a Wells Notice by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
- Engaged by the audit committee of a publicly traded high-technology company to evaluate allegations of financial statement fraud, as advanced by a short-seller.
Education
- Bentley University
Master of Science in Accounting - Amherst College
Bachelor of Arts in Political Science
Professional Designations
- Certified Public Accountant (CPA)
- Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE)
- Certified in Financial Forensics (CFF)
- Accredited in Business Valuation (ABV)
Affiliations
- American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
- Association of Certified Fraud Examiners
- American Bar Association
Languages
English, Greek