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aggregate amounts received and paid by the town of Hampton during
the year to the date of the report. It was Ms. LaPlante's
responsibility to make sure that the books that she and her staff
maintained for the town of Hampton agreed with the figures in the
treasurer's reports. In addition, Ms. LaPlante sent all cash or
checks received on behalf of the town of Hampton to Mr. Dennett,
and Mr. Dennett, after reviewing what he received, deposited the
cash and checks into the appropriate bank account(s) of the town
of Hampton.
In a "letter of comments and recommendations" dated January
31, 1990, and prepared by Plodzik & Sanderson, an accounting firm
retained by the town of Hampton to conduct audits of the town,
that firm made the following comments about Ms. LaPlante: "While
* * * [she] does attempt to maintain some of the required re-
cords, we do not feel that she possesses the necessary skills to
assume responsibility over all bookkeeping and record-keeping
functions".
Mr. Dennett's Relationship with Petitioners
Petitioners first retained Mr. Dennett, whose office was lo-
cated near petitioners' house, around 1975, and he prepared their
joint U.S. individual income tax returns (returns) for the tax-
able years 1976 through 1988. Throughout the years during which
petitioners retained Mr. Dennett, he also prepared unaudited
personal and business financial statements for petitioners, which
petitioners used, inter alia, in attempting to borrow money.
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