Seaboard Surety Company v. Garrison, Webb & Stanaland, P.A., F/k/a Stanaland, Blackwell & Company, P.A. And William Stanaland

This case arises out of a financial audit of Advance Contractors, Inc. performed at its request by the defendant certified public accountants. This audit was relied upon by plaintiff Seaboard Surety Company, a bonding company, when it wrote three performance bonds for the contractor. When the contractor defaulted on its construction contract and went bankrupt, Seaboard allegedly lost over $1,400,000. The bonding company, claiming the audit failed to reveal a $500,000 indebtedness, sued the accountants (1) for gross negligence, (2) for fraud, and (3) as a third-party beneficiary of the audit…