Posted on 06/25/2002 1:36:58 PM PDT by GeneD
LOS ANGELES, Jun 25, 2002 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- Michael Eisner, chairman and chief executive of Walt Disney Co., and his wife have filed a federal negligence lawsuit against their accounting firm, claiming they had to cover $3 million in unpaid state taxes and interest.
In a lawsuit filed Monday, the Eisners claim Executive Monetary Management Inc. failed to give the correct advice on preparing and filing California state income tax returns.
Executive Monetary Management is a wholly owned subsidiary of New York-based Neuberger Berman Inc. A telephone message left after business hours Monday to Neuberger Berman was not immediately returned.
The lawsuit stated that Executive Monetary Management filed tax returns for the Eisners from 1996 through 1999. The state Franchise Tax Board in April 2001 notified Eisner and his wife, Jane, that their income tax returns from that three-year period were being examined, according to court documents.
EMM allegedly responded to the board and acknowledged that there was "an error in the calculation of California income taxes due in each of the years under examination."
The company allegedly claimed that it was unaware that California law did not conform with a 1996 extension of a federal rule on contributions of appreciated stock to private foundations.
By The Associated Press
Copyright 2002 Associated Press, All rights reserved
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