This does not require a ruling. The GAAP accounting standards are very clear about how those credits should have been applied.  That was exactly why he used the JBI example.  If you use stock to buy barter credits (the media credits) then you must use the value of the stock at the time of purchase to report the value of the asset.

JB was warned about this and he went ahead anyways.  Was it simply because he misinterpreted the standard or was it to defraud by overstating the corporate assets? That's what the case is about.