A former Mount Vernon construction company that is fighting several lawsuits is blaming an accounting firm for its financial woes.
Commodore Construction Corp. filed a summons against Marcum LLP and CBIZ CPAs on June 1 in Westchester Supreme Court, stating that it is seeking monetary damages for inaccurate financial statements.
Marcum, once the 13th largest accounting firm in the U.S., was acquired by Cleveland-based CBIZ Inc. in 2024 for $2.3 billion, creating the 7th largest accounting firm.
Commodore was founded in 2001 by Gerald Boyle. It closed last Sept. 30, laying off about 400 workers. It has been sued by trade unions, suppliers, contractors and creditors. Federal tax liens totaling $17.4 million have been filed for unpaid quarterly taxes in 2023 and 2024.
M&T Bank, of Buffalo, has demanded nearly $31.5 million from Commodore, in two complaints filed last year in Westchester Supreme Court.
M&T funded Commodore for more than a decade, according to the complaints, but by mid-2025 the bank realized that the construction company was in trouble. While financial statements gave the impression that the company was successful, the bank claimed, Commodore was losing money and concealing its true condition.
A forensic accountant allegedly found that years of audited financial statements were inaccurate, Commodore lost $70 million from 2021 through 2024, it “potentially diverted” as much as $40 million to other entities, and it owed $36 million in payroll taxes and union dues, according to M&T.
Now Commodore is singling out Marcum and CBIZ for allegedly providing “financial statements that materially misstated its true financial condition.” It accused them of breach of contract, malpractice, negligence and fraud.
“Commodore relied upon these inaccurate financial statements in connection with its financial dealings,” the summons states, including the extension of credit with M&T Bank.”
“CBIZ does not comment on pending litigation,” Amy McGahan, director of corporate and strategic communications, stated in response to a message asking for the firm’s responses to the allegations.
