• BNet, Friday, January 9, 2009 9:30 AM

In sizing up the $15.5 million settlement that Leo Burnett paid to avoid being sued for overbilling the U.S Army, one issue stands out. Why would Burnett attempt to pull a fast one on the government at all? Anyone with a passing knowledge of government ad contracts knows that the military has "one of the most thorough, complicated billing-and-auditing systems imaginable."

Plus, the penalties for screwing the feds are potentially enormous. The federal government is the only client who has its own army of FBI agents and prosecutors and an unlimited budget with which to fund them.

Perhaps "most worrying" is the leadership issue. When ex-CFO Eric Martinez objected to Burnett keeping a secret account filled with Army overcharges, ex-CEO Linda Wolf fired him. "Note to management: If you have to set up a secret account for anything, you're probably doing something wrong."

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