- Daily Update from Securities Docket
- Posts
- Barnes & Noble Education Discloses Ex-Employee Knowingly Circumvented Internal Controls to Make Improper Journal Entries
Barnes & Noble Education Discloses Ex-Employee Knowingly Circumvented Internal Controls to Make Improper Journal Entries
Plus 89% of you do not believe in the "you weren't supposed to be working during the shutdown" defense.
Bruce Carton
November 26, 2025
SPONSORED BY
Good morning! Here’s what’s up.
Poll Results
A staggering 89% say the "you weren't supposed to be working during the shutdown" defense will NOT work.
Clips ✂️
Barnes & Noble Education Says Ex-Worker Evaded Internal Controls
A former Barnes & Noble Education Inc. employee “knowingly circumvented” the company’s internal accounting guardrails to make journal entries that improperly reduced the cost of sales in the 2024 and 2025 fiscal years, the company said Tuesday.
Barnes & Noble Education completed its internal investigation and terminated the payment processing worker, according to the company’s filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The investigation started by the board of directors’ audit committee found no evidence that the former employee “derived any pecuniary gains, directly or indirectly,” the filing said.
👉 Barnes & Noble Education’s Form 8-K from yesterday is here. The filing states that:
… a former Payment Processing employee (whom we have terminated) made unsupported manual journal entries that improperly reduced cost of sales in the fiscal years ended April 27, 2024 and May 3, 2025. The Investigation revealed that this employee acted alone, and without the knowing assistance, support, or direction from any other individual currently associated with the Company. The Investigation further revealed that this employee knowingly circumvented our internal accounting controls in an effort to make these journal entries, which he knew were unsupported and improper. The Investigation found no evidence that this employee derived any pecuniary gains, directly or indirectly, because of his actions…. (emphasis added).
👉 I was torn between two meme reactions to the finding that the B&N employee made unsupported manual journal entries (1) knowingly, (2) completely on his own, and (3) without any pecuniary gains whatsoever. In the holiday spirit, I will provide you with both of them:
Does Republican Crypto Lawyer Have a Shot in NY AG Race?
A former policy lawyer at crypto exchange Coinbase is running for attorney general of New York. His bid to represent the crypto industry’s interests runs against a strong Democratic bias and concerns over industry influence in policymaking.
Khurram Dara, who also worked as a regulatory and policy principal at Bain Capital Crypto, announced his campaign on Nov. 21. In a video accompanying his post on X, Dara said he wants to stop the supposed “lawfare” that current Attorney General (AG) Letitia James is waging against the crypto industry.
Dara said that the reportedly unfair treatment of the industry drives up costs for New Yorkers. New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani recently won his election with a focus on cost-of-living issues.
Dara’s campaign faces strong headwinds. James won her last two elections by a wide margin, and there are broader concerns over how much the crypto lobby is influencing policymaking.
SPONSORED BY
Securities Enforcement Forum New York 2026 is set for Thursday, February 5, 2026 at the historic JW Marriott Essex House! Join us in person or tune in virtually to hear from nearly 50 luminaries in the securities enforcement field—including numerous senior officials from the SEC and DOJ, in-house counsel from major corporations, and lawyers and consultants from the best firms and in the world.
👉 Please register here. See you February 5 in New York!!!
