Ernest Almonte, former Auditor General of the State of Rhode Island and Chairman of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) joins DiSanto, Priest & Co. as Partner effective February 1, 2010.

In this new role, Mr. Almonte will lead the firm's Fraud Examination and Municipal Consulting practices.

As Auditor General for the State of Rhode Island, he was responsible for auditing the $7 billion State Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the $3 billion Federal Single Audit, municipal and quasi-public agencies’ oversight, performance audits, and fraud audits.

Mr. Almonte also served as chairman of the AICPA, the national, professional association of CPAs, with more than 350,000 members which sets ethical standards for the profession and U.S. auditing standards for audits of private companies, non-profit organizations, federal, state and local governments. He continues to serve on the Board as the immediate past-Chairman.

From 1982 until 1994, Mr. Almonte managed his own CPA firm in Smithfield, RI, servicing clients from New England and several other states.

"We're very proud to have a professional of Ernie's stature and accomplishment as part of our leadership team" said David DiSanto, Managing Partner of DiSanto, Priest & Co. "His passion for quality and integrity will greatly benefit our clients as well as our forensic accounting and municipal consulting capabilities." said DiSanto.

"I'm very excited about the opportunities ahead." said Mr. Almonte. "When I think about what’s happening in Washington, and on Wall Street and Main Street, it's clear that multi-disciplinary firms like DiSanto Priest & Co. are uniquely positioned to make a difference, using their considerable expertise as advocates for the public good, in a way that helps clients, our profession, and our financial systems."

"In the coming months and years, we will see global shifts in regulation and business practices as we restore financial stability. Our profession will play an enormous role in this recovery. Our core values of integrity, objectivity, competence, reliability, independence, and accountability will help us navigate this rough terrain, as it has in the past."

Mr. Almonte holds a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration and a Master of Science degree in taxation from Bryant University. He is a graduate of the Senior Executives in State and Local Government at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He is past president of the National State Auditors’ Association and the Rhode Island Society of CPAs. He is a Certified Government Financial Manager and holds both the Certified Information Technology Professional and Certified in Financial Forensics credentials from the AICPA.

Mr. Almonte was appointed by the Secretary of Defense as the State of Rhode Island Chairman of the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve and by the Comptroller General of the United States to the Government Auditing Standards Committee. In addition, in 2009, the U.S. Department of Defense named him to its first department-wide audit committee where he continues to serve as Chairman.

In 2005 and again in 2008, Accounting Today named him one of the 100 Most Influential People in the profession.

Article Date: 8th January 2010

Author: David DiSanto