Russian Case Comes to CA Board

State Board Report

September 2010

Counsel for imprisoned Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkorsky has asked the California Board of Accountancy to revoke the license of Douglas Miller, the former PricewaterhouseCoopers partner who approved the withdrawal of PWC’s audit opinions of Mr. Khodorkovsky’s company, OAO Yukos.

Mr. Khodorkorsky has been accused of embezzling tens of billions of dollars from his company. For 10 years PWC was Yukos’ auditors. He at one point had political ambitions and his legal counsel claims PWC was put under pressure by the Russian government to withdraw its audit opinions.

Wall Street Journal reporter Gregory L. White wrote: “PWC’s entanglement in the legal travails of Mr. Khodorkovsky highlights the ethical and legal dilemmas than can face auditors in emerging markets where corporate governance and judicial systems are weak, industry observers say.”