The brierty machines were sold to raise cash to resolve their...

The brierty machines were sold to raise cash to resolve their cashflow issue. The machines were sold very cheaply because no one wanted machines at the time and there were a few bankruptcies that put good gear on the market. He probably hired them to brierty because he knew the rates which is not appropriate and hurts their other contractors but a benefit to brierty shareholders if anything.

Their dire financial state is clearly noted in multiple previous auditor reports. I think the first bad comments appeared over a year ago. I was once told that the first thing you read in an annual report is the last few pages. It was very relevant to this story. Another warning is delays or changes to auditors right next to reporting deadlines.

Having said this, knowing to look at the auditor comments didn't eliminate my losses, it simply cut them short a lot earlier