The Karams later discovered that the accountant assigned to their file was ill, and the firm never had another accountant prepare their returns.

FORBES: Joint Returns Need Warning Labels

After failing to win Brazil's presidency as the dictatorship's nominee, Mr Maluf staged a comeback, first by winning election as Sao Paulo's mayor and then, in 1996, by securing victory for Mr Pitta, the accountant at his family firm and his handpicked successor.

ECONOMIST: Brazil

Sterling employed an accountant whose responsibilities included managing the many accounts that the firm and its partners and associates had with Madoff.

NEWYORKER: Madoff��s Curveball

Mr. Bisgay is a certified public accountant and was employed in the Financial Services Industry Practice at the accounting firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP from 1989 to 2001, most recently as a Senior Manager.

FORBES: Steven Bisgay

Such is the obscurity of Softbank's tax arrangements, its corporate structure and the prospects of its investments that, to gain even a partial view of the firm's true value, you need to be a trained accountant, a stockmarket analyst and a private detective rolled into one.

ECONOMIST: Is Softbank��s Internet empire as strong as it looks?