Independence in Appearance. NY Times

Public documents show that the chief financial officer and head of compliance for the Bayou Group was also a principal in an accounting firm that audited the hedge funds' books.

Daniel E. Marino was the No. 2 man at Bayou, a hedge fund company founded in 1996 by Samuel Israel III that appeared to have $411 million in assets at the end of last year. Mr. Marino is also listed as a registered agent at Richmond-Fairfield Associates, the accounting firm that signed off on the Bayou funds' financial statements in 2004 and earlier. Such a dual role could cast doubt on the accuracy of Bayou's financial statements.