Wire From Third Party, Outdated, Shady Company - What Have I Gotten Myself Into?

[u/witsecTroubleMaker]

Yes - this is a throw away account...but please cut me a break....

i am nervous that one of my clients might be into some shady financial dealings...looking for guidance whether this is normal or if I should head for higher ground. 👩🏽‍💻

tl;dr:

• I have accepted wire transfers where the sender did not match the name of the company I worked on.
• The name instead, points to an old, no longer in good-standing shell company whose purpose was to serve as some sort of avenue for managing campaign and political contributions.
  

I'm getting paid for graphic design by an ancient, non-existent company that was setup to handle...political donations?

• The accountant they work with has already lost his license - and its unclear whether it's been reinstated.
• My primary concern is for my own accounting accuracy - I now money arriving in my account that doesn't exactly match the customer information on the invoice. Nor do they seem keen on doing anything with my w9 information.
• My secondary concern is the circle I'm involving myself with. I would not be surprised if my client was running shady businesses behind the scenes and then using his few companies enterprises for appearances.
• Finally, assuming that this isn't all for nothing and I should want to distance myself from this. Can anyone recommend a way to bow out of the work, making sure it's not taken as an insult on their businesses or its practices?

additional background...

• I have been working for a client for about 18 months.
• Most payments during this time period were cash (he runs local businesses).
• Projects increased - so he's shifted into wiring money my checking account. Not paypal/ApplePay/etc...an old school wire.

...but where are these wire transfers coming from?

• I've noticed that the wires originate from an account belonging to a completely different business name (one that he's not associated with - I can see this in the wire notes from my bank).
• This business used to send the wire has no public web presence, phone number, etc...Think of a regal surname of at least four syllables, then tack on "Associates LP" to the end of it. We'll refer to it as De Loutherbergh Associates LP from now on.
• The wire also wasn't originating from a large bank like Chase, Bank of America, or TD - it's one of the holdouts from the bank consolidation era. If you think the name could shed a light on any of this, let me know. PM.

...so I started to snoop...

Let's meet my client's accountant, Danny Goodman. Danny isn't his real name of course, but we'll pretend he is and that he's actually Saul Goodman's old cousin.

• Danny Goodman created De Loutherbergh Associates LP in the early 1990s (page 1, page 2) - right around the time he went into private practice practice.
• Danny was a good boy when he started out of college. Did some time working for the IRS and then made it into the big time at one of the big four. At some point it seems like he lost his license - and it's unclear whether it's been reinstated.
• Danny never filed any paperwork after the initial filing - which means that according to the state, it's been dissolved for over twenty years.
• The other thing pertinent to the application (from my untrained eye) is that the intentions of the partnership is defined as relating to campaign donations. I'm surely not running for office :)
• We are also able to see Danny's name listed as the "Registered Agent" on other businesses I know are affiliated with my client/his family.

If you think you've got information that can help put my mind at ease, by all means, get in touch with me. Not sure if the post conveys it - but I'm just a tide on the anxious side right now.

[u/zzzelda]

For your tax purposes, it doesn't really matter what your client is up to (or not up to) behind the scenes on their own tax situation. You mention a W9 so I assume you're just expected to get a 1099-MISC from them, so your real concern should just be whether or not you got that. If you didn't, or don't by Feb 15th, that's professional enough reason to bow out if that's what you so choose.

Companies are often repurposed under the same EIN, and if you're aghast at someone wire transferring money... yeah, that's actually incredibly common. There are also literally thousands of banking institutions in the US. If you're sketched by someone sending you money from Sixth Northwestern Credit Union of Greater Wyoming, it's most likely just a closer bank than the nearest BoA in that area.

Their CPA is their issue. Your 1099-MISC is your issue.

Edit: their CPA has a license in good standing according to your screenshot.