'The Bachelor' Accountant Accused of Stealing $600,000

Lawsuit by AND Syndicated Productions says Iain Anderson used bogus transactions to transfer company funds to his personal accounts.

ABC/RICK ROWELL

"The Bachelor"

The production company behind ABC’s The Bachelor and The Bachelorette filed suit Wednesday against one of its production accountants charging that he misappropriated at least $600,000 with the intent to defraud the company.

The suit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court by AND Syndicated Productions of Burbank charges Iain Anderson, who is alleged to reside in Ventura, with “bogus transactions” and converting money he was not entitled to for his own use.

The suit says after AND did an investigation, “Anderson was unable to provide a reasonable explanation regarding any of these issues,” but did admit he “routinely deposited AND’s petty cash into his personal bank accounts.” The suit adds that Anderson refused to provide a full accounting for those deposits.

Anderson was the lead production accountant responsible for managing financial data for each production and maintaining accounting records. He was in charge of petty cash disbursements.

“In 2011,” says the suit, “AND became aware of numerous transactions involving Anderson that had been recorded falsely or were not supported by proper documentation.”