Internal Controls

The assistant principal at an Orthodox Jewish school in Northwest Baltimore has been indicted in the theft of more than $13,000 in school checks, which he is accused of depositing into his bank account, city prosecutors said. Rabbi Jay Kenneth Wagner, who worked at Yeshivat Rambam/Maimonides Academy of Baltimore at 6300 Park Heights Avenue until recently, was arrested and released Tuesday after posting a small cash bond, according to court records. The indictment was filed Sept. 10. Wagner, 32, of the 3400 block of Labyrinth Road in Northwest Baltimore has no previous arrests, according to Maryland's online court records.

Maryland's second gambling facility is set to open next week. Maryland Lottery Director Stephen Martino signed a slots license late Thursday for the Casino at Ocean Downs, ensuring that the state's second gambling facility will open Tuesday. The license was granted after the Eastern Shore casino near Ocean City conducted a successful trial run of its 750-machine facility Wednesday. The Casino at Ocean Downs near Ocean City will open to the public at 1 p.m. Tuesday and will join the Hollywood Casino Perryville in generating more slots revenue for the state.

Cecelia's Bridals welcomed to downtown WestminsterThe Greater Westminster Development Corp. welcomes Cecelia's Bridals to the downtown business district.The store features designer wedding gowns and custom-made gowns for the bridal party, including the flower girl.A grand opening will be held from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at 13 Liberty St.Information: 410-848-8892.General auditor appointed for Union National BankStephanie C. Haines of Westminster has been promoted to general auditor of Union National Bank.

The accidental exposure of personal information about patients in a Maryland dental plan should be another sharp reminder to institutions to better protect consumers' privacy. Absent tighter controls, states should consider imposing tough penalties for these breaches. A technical error has been blamed for the posting of the names, addresses, dates of birth and Social Security numbers of 75,000 members on the public Web site of the Dental Network, an HMO owned by CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield.

Vice president named at Bank of AnnapolisRussel J. Grimes Jr. has joined Annapolis Bancshares Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiary, Bank of Annapolis, as vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer of both.In this capacity, he primarily will be responsible for finance, accounting, financial reporting, data processing and internal controls of the companies.Mr. Grimes has more than 14 years of banking experience and a bachelor of science degree in business management/accounting from the University of Maryland.

WASHINGTON -- The Securities and Exchange Commission approved rules yesterday requiring accounting firms to certify that the companies they audit have adequate measures in place to detect fraud. The rules, which follow accounting scandals at Enron Corp. and WorldCom Inc., are an attempt to force auditors to dig deeper to uncover financial wrongdoing. Required by the Sarbanes-Oxley corporate governance law, the rules call for accountants to look behind the numbers at the financial reporting systems that produced them and certify in writing that they're adequate.

The new president of the Maryland chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society said yesterday that the nonprofit organization has put new procedures in place to prevent theft after an employee allegedly stole $269,000 over five years."

The Board of Education of Harford County is seeking applications from interested county citizens to fill one opening on the school system's Audit Committee. The purpose of the five-member committee is to assist the board in fulfilling its fiduciary oversight responsibilities. The committee serves as an independent and objective party to monitor the school system's financial reporting process and internal controls. The committee meets at least quarterly to review financial performance and may meet annually, in separate sessions, with management, the internal auditor and the external auditor.

WASHINGTON -- The Securities and Exchange Commission proposed yesterday streamlining corporate accounting rules, addressing a long-standing complaint by businesses that complying with the complex rules can be expensive and time-consuming. By unanimous vote, commissioners voted to seek comment about making Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act more "risk-based," thereby allowing executives to focus their energies on identifying the biggest potential risks to their corporations' books. The proposed rules would especially benefit smaller companies, which say the costs of abiding by the current ones are especially high.

The joint statement on revised accounting rules and related matters for financial institutions was issued last week by the Comptroller of the Currency, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., Federal Reserve Board and the Office of Thrift Supervision. It contained several pointed messages to bankers and their regulators. Here are a few:*"It is possible, however, that some depository institutions may have become overly cautious in their lending practices. In some instances this caution has been attributed to concerns on the part of lenders that the regulators of depository institutions are applying excessively rigorous examination standards."