SEC Charges San Diego's Former Auditor with Fraud on Bond Sales

By Alison St John / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published December 11, 2007 at 12:47 PM PST

This story was published more than 16 years ago.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has reached a $15,000 settlement with the city of San Diego's independent auditor, for filing false and misleading reports in 2003. The case is part of the SEC's

The Securities and Exchange Commission has reached a $15,000 settlement with the city of San Diego's independent auditor, for filing false and misleading reports in 2003. The case is part of the SEC's ongoing investigation into the city's failure to disclose its pension deficit to investors. KPBS reporter Alison St John has more.

The is the first time the SEC has slapped a fine on an auditor serving as an independent watchdog of municipal finances.

Become a KPBS sponsor

Rosalind Tyson, acting regional director of the SEC in Los Angeles, says the company, Saiz and Co, filed false and misleading footnotes on the city of San Diego's financial statements in 2002 and 2003.

Tyson : His footnotes that he drafted indicated that the city was properly funding and reserving for its pension obligations and this was not the case.

Tyson says investors who buy municipal bonds rely on independent auditors to paint an accurate picture of city finances. The city's pension deficit grew to more than a billion dollars as a result of an underfunding and other unwise financial practices.

The SEC says its investigation into other individuals and entities in San Diego is continuing.

Alison St John, KPBS News.

Alison St John

twitter

Alison St John currently serves as a general assignment reporter and occasionally co-hosts KPBS Midday Edition. She fell in love with KPBS Radio when she arrived in San Diego in 1985 and first heard NPR. She has been a voice on KPBS Radio since 1989, and has served as a news reporter for radio, TV and the web, as well as anchoring, hosting, producing and editing. Alison has reported on stories about North County and was based in the KPBS' North County Bureau. Alison covered the metro beat during the critical period of the San Diego City pension crisis, and the education beat while Alan Bersin was the controversial Superintendent of San Diego City School District. She covered health when the industry was converting to managed care and told welfare reform stories in the late 1990s when Clinton was “ending welfare as we know it.” She has covered land use issues extensively, looking at the challenges of meeting a growing population while preserving community character, and developing a better transportation system to meet environmental concerns. She has done many stories on the military in San Diego, and the series she edited on the challenges veterans face returning from active duty to civilian life won “Best of Show” from the San Diego Society of Professional Journalists. She occasionally hosts the KPBS Roundtable and KPBS Midday Edition. Alison has won awards from the San Diego Press Club, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Associated Press TV and Radio Association, and the California Golden Mike Awards. Alison was born in Tanzania, brought up in Scotland, and earned her degree in psychology and sociology from Durham University in England. Her postgraduate diploma is in student counseling. She worked in England, Nigeria, Switzerland, Belgium, India, and Japan before moving to the United States in 1981. She now lives in Oceanside and enjoys how her community is growing and changing.