Forensic Accountants Crucial in Gulf Oil Spill

Forensic accountants will be instrumental on who gets how much money from the $20 billion fund set aside by BP as we approach the 71st day of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

According to Joe Epps, President of Epps CPA Consulting PLLC, (www.eppscpa.com) the current focus of the fund is on economic damages, not liability. "This is what many forensic accountants do - they measure and support economic damages," he said. He notes that in this case, the parties involved include individuals, businesses and governmental bodies.

Economic hardships for individuals can include property damage, lost income cleanup costs, loss of property value and even wrongful death.

Businesses damages entail loss of business and/or property value, as well as cleanup costs and environmental remediation to name a few.

Government bodies can acquire money from the BP fund for lost tax revenues, damage to natural resources, cleanup costs, and property damage.

Epps, who regularly teaches classes in forensic accounting at Arizona State University, has long been known as Arizona's foremost expert in forensic accounting. He teaches about white collar crime to investigators in the Phoenix Police Department and runs his own practice in Scottsdale.

"Many people have been hard hit in the Gulf and we're here to do what needs to be done in the area of forensic accounting," he said. "We can prepare the cases of individuals and businesses, so that they can get back on their feet."

Epps CPA Consulting PLLC is a Forensic Analysis accounting firm located in Scottsdale, Arizona. Led by their president, Joe Epps, the company is a member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners ACFE; American Institute of Certified Public Accountants AICPA; National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts NACVA; National Society of Professional Insurance Investigators NAPII; National Association of Forensic Economists NAFE; Arizona Society of Certified Public Accountants; ASCPA; and Loss Executives Association LEA. For more information, please call (480) 595-0943 or visit www.eppscpa.com.