Richmond-based accounting firm Cherry, Bekaert & Holland scooped up more than a hundred new employees from a firm in Florida that is winding down.
Cherry will add 14 partners and 100 associates from Miami-based Berenfeld Spritzer Shechter & Sheer. The additions bolster Cherry’s presence in the South Florida region, where it already has 140 professionals on the ground, according to its website.
It has 750 professionals throughout the company and is one of the largest CPA firms in the country.
No money changed hands in the deal, according to Florida media that covered the news.
According to the Tampa Bay Business Journal, Berenfeld was one of the largest accounting firms in South Florida, but it is currently liquidating the business, partly because of local scandal involving a Ponzi schemer:
Emery Sheer, partner at Berenfeld, told the South Florida Business Journal Friday that the scandal of Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein had been a major factor in the demise of the firm, coming during a major recession. Berenfeld had provided tax accounting to Rothstein, his law firm and a major feeder fund in the Ponzi case.
“Rothstein was difficult. It was part of our decision to liquidate,” Sheer said. “The scandal made it very difficult for us because, shortly after the litigation broke, we had competitors in Miami that began to solicit our clients.”
The story continues:
Sheer said he was planning to file a liquidation plan for Berenfeld with the state by Monday.
Sheer insisted that he still believes no one at the Berenfeld firm did anything wrong. Berenfeld employees Tracy Weintraub and Gary Berkowitz, who worked on Rothstein accounts, have been offered jobs with Cherry Bekaert, Sheer said.
“There was absolutely no one in the Berenfeld firm that did anything wrong. Now does that mean that we should continue to exist under this cloud? No. We have to move forward,” Sheer said.
Cherry first entered the Miami market in 2008 when it merged with a 25-member firm there.
Richmond-based accounting firm Cherry, Bekaert & Holland scooped up more than a hundred new employees from a firm in Florida that is winding down.
Cherry will add 14 partners and 100 associates from Miami-based Berenfeld Spritzer Shechter & Sheer. The additions bolster Cherry’s presence in the South Florida region, where it already has 140 professionals on the ground, according to its website.
It has 750 professionals throughout the company and is one of the largest CPA firms in the country.
No money changed hands in the deal, according to Florida media that covered the news.
According to the Tampa Bay Business Journal, Berenfeld was one of the largest accounting firms in South Florida, but it is currently liquidating the business, partly because of local scandal involving a Ponzi schemer:
Emery Sheer, partner at Berenfeld, told the South Florida Business Journal Friday that the scandal of Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein had been a major factor in the demise of the firm, coming during a major recession. Berenfeld had provided tax accounting to Rothstein, his law firm and a major feeder fund in the Ponzi case.
“Rothstein was difficult. It was part of our decision to liquidate,” Sheer said. “The scandal made it very difficult for us because, shortly after the litigation broke, we had competitors in Miami that began to solicit our clients.”
The story continues:
Sheer said he was planning to file a liquidation plan for Berenfeld with the state by Monday.
Sheer insisted that he still believes no one at the Berenfeld firm did anything wrong. Berenfeld employees Tracy Weintraub and Gary Berkowitz, who worked on Rothstein accounts, have been offered jobs with Cherry Bekaert, Sheer said.
“There was absolutely no one in the Berenfeld firm that did anything wrong. Now does that mean that we should continue to exist under this cloud? No. We have to move forward,” Sheer said.
Cherry first entered the Miami market in 2008 when it merged with a 25-member firm there.