Grant Thornton pays for ignoring audit red flags

The Securities and Exchange Commission has announced that national audit firm Grant Thornton LLP and two of its partners agreed to settle charges that they ignored red flags and fraud risks while conducting deficient audits of two publicly traded companies that wound up facing SEC enforcement actions for improper accounting and other violations. Grant Thornton admitted wrongdoing and agreed to forfeit approximately $1.5 million in audit fees and interest plus pay a $3 million penalty.