Deloitte LLP, a national accounting firm, recently named Rob Lucenti as its new managing partner for its Orange County practice.

Lucenti is succeeding Rick Rayson, who was appointed as the regional managing partner of Deloitte’s Audit and Enterprise Risk Services in the Pacific Southwest.

Most recently serving as the company’s Audit and Enterprise Risk Services marketplace leader for the Pacific Southwest, Lucenti will now oversee the audit, tax, consulting and financial advisory services groups for Deloitte’s Orange County practice.

“Rob Lucenti has demonstrated a strong commitment to helping us achieve all aspects of our strategy,” said Deloitte vice chairman and regional managing partner Tony Buzzelli. “In addition to delivering quality client service and helping us win in the marketplace, Rob has shown tremendous proficiency in mentoring and coaching our people.”

Other recent O.C. executive changes/promotions:

• Del Taco promotes two executives
• New executive heads up sales at Diedrich Coffee
• BJ’s Restaurants names new marketing chief

BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. announced today that Matt Hood has been appointed as the company’s chief marketing officer — a new position crafted by the Huntington Beach pizza chain.

Hood, previously a part-time consultant for BJ’s, will now be responsible for the company’s marketing, merchandising, culinary and beverage research and development and concept branding activities.”We are pleased to welcome Matt as a full-time member of BJ’s senior leadership team,” said BJ’s Chief Executive Jerry Deitchle. “I am confident that Matt’s experience and skills will become increasingly valuable as we continue to build BJ’s into a nationally respected and admired restaurant growth company.”

Related links: 

• Del Taco promotes two executives 
• New executive heads up sales at Diedrich Coffee 

A federal judge set a tentative trial date of April 7, 2009, for billionaire Henry T. Nicholas III on charges that he presided over a $2.2 billion scheme to backdate employee stock options and defraud investors while he was chief executive at Broadcom Corp.

U.S. District Court Judge Cormac Carney ordered the options backdating trial to occur before a trial for Nicholas on drug charges, which he scheduled to begin about six months after the first case concludes — or November 2009 at the soonest.

“I think the stock options case is more vital to the public interest than the drug case,” Carney said during the hour-long hearing in Santa Ana, citing Broadcom’s $2.2 billion financial restatement stemming from its improper accounting of the employee stock options.

Prosecutors argued that the drug trial should take precedent, because it was a relatively straight-forward case compared to the stock options charges, which involve complex accounting and securities regulations.

Nicholas, 48, and his co-defendant in the options case, William J. Ruehle, 66, Broadcom’s former chief financial officer, are accused of 21 counts of leading a scheme to inflate the value of employee compensation through stock option grants, defying warnings from company accountants.

Henry Samueli, who co-founded Broadcom with Nicholas, pleaded guilty last week to lying to federal officials about his role in the backdating scheme, agreeing to pay $12 million to settle the criminal case.

Defense attorneys for Nicholas and Ruehle argued that the options case should go first because a drug case could prejudice potential jurors. Nicholas stands accused of using cocaine, ecstasy and prescription drugs as well as hiring prostitutes and drugging other executives without their consent.

“Obviously, there’s a risk of prejudice toward Mr. Ruehle,” said Richard Marmaro, attorney for the CFO who left Broadcom in 2006 as the company conducted an internal investigation of the options grants.

In a motion for putting the options case first, Marmaro wrote that the drug indictment “paints a misleading picture of Broadcom as a company awash in drugs, prostitutes and cash, where criminal conduct was used as a means of carrying on company business.”

Nicholas, who is residing at a drug and alcohol rehab facility in Malibu while awaiting trial, and Ruehle, who is free on bail, both appeared in court for the hearing but did not speak.

Nicholas’ mother, Marcella Leach, and several members of Justice for Homicide Victims, a group supporting rights for crime victims, packed the courtroom benches to express their support for the defendants. Nicholas has given millions of dollars to political campaigns supported by the group.   

Carney said he expects the options trial to take six to eight weeks. He said he will send juror summons and questionnaires to 2,500 to 3,000 people, but that he expects to narrow the pool to 100 people or less for final interviews.

To see Ruehle’s attorney’s argument to let the options case go first, CLICK HERE.

To see the prosecution’s argument to put the drug case first, CLICK HERE.

Related stories …

• Samueli’s plea raises questions for Nicholas trial
  
• Broadcom’s Samueli pleads guilty
• NHL suspends Ducks owner Samueli
• Broadcom billionaire charged with distributing ‘ecstasy’ to prostitutes, others
• Prosecutors: Video shows Broadcom billionaire doing drugs
• Billionaire who built Broadcom led a secret life, accusers say
• Friends, family bailed out indicted Broadcom billionaire

Today, Lake Forest-based Mexican quick serve chain Del Taco announced that Steve Brake has been promoted to vice president, treasurer and controller and Pete Honer has been promoted to vice president, business insights and planning.

Brake (pictured at top right), previously controller, will continue to work with Del Taco while collaborating with Mike Payne, the chief financial officer at Del Taco’s parent company, Sagittarius Brands.

Honer (pictured at bottom right), had previously been the director of financial planning. Now, he is also responsible for market planning for new restaurants, developing and leveraging consumer insights and establishing a marketing analytics capability.

“These are well-deserved promotions that recognize the tremendous achievements of Steve Brake and Pete Honer. These promotions and new responsibilities add an important analytical element to executing our long term vision for Del Taco,” said Shirlene Lopez, president and COO.

Del Taco also announced a couple of open positions. The company is recruiting a director of consumer insights, a new senior-level position, which will be responsible for developing and executing research plans, tools and processes for business growth.

The company is also recruiting a senior director of menu development, who will be responsible for building upon Del Taco’s core and promotional menus.

On the eve of  hands-free cell phone laws going into effect in California, some local phone sellers are selling out of the BlueAnt Supertooth, a wireless speaker device that can be clipped onto a car’s visor.

T-Mobile, RadioShack and Best Buy stores cite the Supertooth as their most popular hands-free device.

Some RadioShack and Best Buy locations have sold out of the product.

“People don’t like having stuff in their ears,” said RadioShack Laguna Niguel Store Manager Fred Ramezani. “You can just put everything away and have the sound come straight out of the speaker.”

The device is also popular because people can leave it in the car without having to worry about carrying it around.  But it may require a noise-canceling device since it is farther away from the speaker’s mouth.

More on hands-free  devices and the new laws:

• Gadgets for the hands-free driver
• No warnings, just tickets for new cellular law
• Ban on texting while driving could be next
• Free cell phone earpieces for everyone!
• Free headsets to those ticketed under new cell phone law
• Get your free hands-free headset before law starts July 1
• Are all Bluetooth headsets created equal?
• Hands-free cell phone law begins Tuesday

Image from  BlueAnt Web site.

Diedrich Coffee, Inc. announced Thursday that James L. Harris joined the company as Vice President of Sales. He will manage the company’s sales team throughout the United States and Canada from Irvine.

Harris was most recently with Hansen’s Beverage Company as a vice president in charge of international sales for the Monster Energy Drink brand.

“We are extremely excited to add someone of James’s caliber to our team,” said Russ Phillips, President and Chief Executive Officer of Diedrich.

Harris will be replacing Steve Heyman, who left the company earlier in the year.

Anaheim’s Location Based Technologies has selected Jabil Circuit to manufacture its PocketFinder, a gadget to keep track of pets, luggage and even children. It will be available by September, the company said today.

Jabil will test, configure and assemble the PocketFinder devices. Jabil has facilities in 20 countries, which will allow the locator device to be produced on three continents.

The PocketFinder is roughly the size of a poker chip. It has a GPS chip that allows the device to be tracked using the Internet, cell phones and landlines. Users can follow the device’s location and speed in real time on the Internet. Or, they can track the chip by telephone. In addition, users can set up their PocketFinder to send alerts when the device travels into or out of specified areas.

According to Glenn Busch, investor relations for PocketFinder, the device is being evaluated by several major companies and the government.

The PocketFinder is available for pre-order for $129.99 at pocketfinder.com. Service plans will cost around $14.95 a month. The device will be initially released in Europe but should arrive in the U.S. by the end of the third quarter.

“We are committed to having our devices available to the mass market consumer. This is for families across the country,” said David Morse, the company’s co-president and CEO.

Read previous Register coverage here.

Nearly 33,000 Orange County residents who are eligible for this year’s tax rebate are missing out on payments of up to $300 each because they have not filed a 2007 tax return, says the IRS.

The 32,813 local residents are Social Security recipients and disabled veterans who normally don’t usually file a tax return because they don’t earn enough income.

Congress approved a special provision that allows them to get an economic stimulus payment anyway, but they must file a return, even if they don’t owe any taxes. The maximum payment is $300 per individual or $600 per couple.

The largest group of potential recipients is in Anaheim, where 4,784 people have not filed, based on Social Security and Veterans Affairs records. Santa Ana has the second largest pool with 4,253, followed by Garden Grove at 2,245.

It is not too late for them to get a rebate, but they must file a tax return. (CLICK HERE for a sample return.) Filing a return this year does not mean you will be required to file for any other years.

Go to the Register’s Tax Center for more information on the tax  rebates.

Culminating a quarter-century-long battle, the federal government is suing Newport Beach-based Monex for nearly $400 million in back taxes. The feds filed suit in Santa Ana on June 13. The complaint seeks unpaid taxes from 1980 through 1984, plus interest and penalties. The total: $378,237,162.42.

Monex, founded by Louis Carabini in 1967, is one of the nation’s biggest dealers in precious metals. It has long battled the Internal Revenue Service over government claims that it had invested in abusive tax shelters.

The current dispute began in August 1992 when the IRS told Monex International that it owed $172.4 million. Monex took the fight to U.S. Tax Court, settling there in February 1998.

Monex International no longer exists. It merged into another Carabini company, PCCE Inc., in 1995.

In court papers the government alleges that Monex created several new entities and transferred the old Monex’s employees and assets “to prevent the United States from reaching the assets and income of the Monex enterprise.” It says those entities have to pay the old Monex’s tax bill.

For an updated version of this story, click here.

Yamaha Corporation of America in Buena Park announced today that it promoted Rick Young and Tom Sumner to senior vice president positions, replacing Terry Lewis, who is retiring.

Lewis, (pictured on right) who spent 26 years at the music instrument and electronics company, will retire June 27. He served as executive vice president of the U.S. division, as well as president of Yamaha Artist Services in New York.

Young and Sumner will split Lewis’ duties. Each has been with Yamaha for more than two decades and both most recently served as corporate vice presidents. The company employs 485 people.

Young (pictured in middle) will oversee the piano, band and orchestra division; the music education department; Yamaha Corporate Artist Affairs in Nashville and Yamaha Artist Services in New York. He will continue as general manager of the company’s Pro Audio & Combo division, including Yamaha Artist Services Hollywood.

Sumner (pictured below) will head up Yamaha’s Advertising & Creative Services division, Corporate Business Development, Steinberg North America, Academic & Institutional Relations/Music In Education and Corporate Loans department. He also retains his position as president of Yamaha Electronics Corporation.

Both will lead the Customer Sales and Marketing Group, a new unit that will work with select dealers, artists, venues and academic and institutional facilities.

Under Lewis, Yamaha launched the Disklavier piano and the Yamaha Music and Wellness Institute, and he helped build Yamaha into a respected source for musicians. He and his wife, Sue, plan to relocate to San Diego.

Images courtesy of Yamaha.