No. of Recommendations: 3
<< You can get away with some fraud if you have a highly centralised accountancy
office (ironically, like Berkshire's, or Madoff's) but it is harder to hide
corruption with as many transactions, separate banks, massive number of separate
partners, that Brookfield deals with daily. >>
I might suggest another check for potential chicanery, what might be called
the "No Bad Quarters" test. Most businesses are going to have good and bad
times throughout the cycle. If a business hits their numbers *every* quarter
over a period of time (Madoff, Enron, WorldCom, GE), it might be worth examining
how they've managed such consistency.
-Rubic