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ARTICLE · 02 FEBRUARY 2026

Can An Equitable Accounting Find The Missing Cash?

Allegations of missing cash are a familiar feature of business divorce litigation, particularly in restaurants and other cash-heavy businesses.

United StatesAccounting and Audit

Allegations of missing cash are a familiar feature of business divorce litigation, particularly in restaurants and other cash-heavy businesses. When the books are incomplete and the money never made it into the bank, minority owners are often left with suspicion and frustration, but little concrete proof.

A recent decision from Manhattan Commercial Division Justice Jennifer Schecter (the same judge behind the keystone accounting case O'Mahony v Whiston [read here]), demonstrates how far an equitable accounting can go in those circumstances. Li v Satsuma underscores the accounting claim as an extraordinarily powerful tool for forcing fiduciaries to explain what the records show. But it also highlights the claim's shortcomings when alleged cash transactions never made it onto the books at all.

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