BDO Consulting announced the growth of its Litigation & Fraud Investigation practice with the addition of Maryellen K. Sebold as a managing director in the Los Angeles office. In this role, Ms. Sebold, who is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Certified Insolvency and Restructuring Advisor (CIRA) and also Certified in Financial Forensics (CFF), will lead a range of litigation consulting matters, including forensic accounting, economic damages consulting, bankruptcy and business restructuring. Her appointment is effective immediately.

“With nearly 25 years in the professional services industry, Maryellen’s depth and breadth of engagement experience providing litigation, investigation and bankruptcy services, as well as significant testifying experience, make her a high-value and versatile addition to the consulting group,” said Carl W. Pergola, executive director of BDO Consulting. “She will join a strong group of BDO professionals on the West Coast and further strengthen our presence in that market.”

Sebold has significant experience testifying at trials, depositions and arbitrations, applying her multi-faceted knowledge in a wide range of industries. She has assisted clients in calculating economic damages, evaluating shareholder and partnership disputes, analyzing budget overruns, evaluating alter-ego issues, tracing assets and calculating royalties, in addition to performing investigations into allegations of fraud and mismanagement.

In the bankruptcy arena, Sebold has worked in various capacities, including acting as accountant to the trustee and creditors’ committee in Chapter 7 and 11 matters, performing asset tracing, preference and fraudulent transfer analyses, insolvency analyses, claims evaluations, plans of reorganization and overseeing the operations of a business in Chapter 11. She has also worked with bank syndications in efforts to restructure multi-million-dollar loans made to companies on the brink of collapse.

Sebold holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Ithaca College and is a Certified Public Accountant in California and New York. A current council member for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), Sebold has also served as President of the Board of Trustees of the CalCPA Education Foundation and was a member of the Board of Directors for the California Society of Certified Public Accountants (CalCPA). She has also been actively involved in various programs for the California Society of CPAs in an effort to promote the advancement of women in the accounting profession.