ZZZZ Best, Inc.ACCT 406.0015/13/2014Hillary ThomasWhen Barry Minkow and ZZZZ Best went public in mid-1986, Minkow and his close friends got together and became multimillionaires of the day the next day. ZZZZ Best's total market value has exceeded $200 million, making Barry the youngest CEO in the country. Now a sought-after new product, Minkow's immediate success raised no red flags with the public or auditing and law firms at first. Ernst & Whinney, the accounting firm that managed the company's books for most of ZZZZ Best's period of operation, wrote an engagement letter to Barry Minkow in September 1986, describing the four departments they were planning to provide ZZZZ Best as new listeners. ; a review of the Company's financial statements for the three-month period ending July 31, 1986, assistance in preparing a registration statement to be filed with the SEC, a comfort letter to be submitted to ZZZZ subscribers Best and a full audit report for the fiscal year ending April 30, 1987. Of these four services, Ernst & Whinney did not provide the last one, a full audit for the fiscal year ending April 30, 1987. Instead, they issued a review report on the company's quarterly financial statements for the quarter ending July 31, 1986. Once the review of the financial statements was completed, a report was issued stating that a review has been conducted in accordance with the professional standards of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and whether or not the CPA has become aware of any material changes that would need to be made for the statements to conform to generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). The revised financial statements are in the middle of paper.... ..one of the red flags that had been raised during the period they were appointed as auditors of ZZZZ Best.ZZZZ Best and Barry Minkow quickly collapsed in May 1987 after the publication of an article in the Los Angeles Times that disparaged the boy wonder. . From a young age, Barry was intrigued by forged credit cards and stealing money. Getting out of it boosted his ego and self-esteem and made him curious to see how far he could go. This newspaper article caused a domino effect of events that culminated in the collapse of ZZZZ Best in less than three months after going viral. A small brokerage firm began shorting ZZZZ Best shares, forcing the price to fall. More importantly, the article sent Minkow into a frenzy and forced him to take several bold steps that cost him more than all his millions could buy, his credibility..