Brentwood-based Capital Confirmation Inc., which provides business auditors with online verification of financial data, has filed suit in Nashville's U.S. District Court, accusing an upstart rival of "unfair competition" and "intentional interference with business relationships."

The defendant, AuditConfirmations LLC, is an outgrowth of a Denver accounting firm, Linford & Co., whose Web site says it started the company at the end of 2008. The lawsuit, filed late last week and available at this link, accuses AuditConfirmations of falsely claiming to have Bank of America and Wells Fargo as clients, when they were really clients of Capital Confirmation.

It also asserts that the Denver firm has disparaged Capital Confirmation in various ways while trying to woo its customers, and it asserts that AuditConfirmations is not capable of performing services that meet national auditing standards, even though it claims to be able to do so.

"It would be inappropriate for us to comment on the matter in any specific detail," said Newel Linford, one of the principals of AuditConfirmations, when asked to comment. "However, we are confident that we have not violated any laws. If the courts determine there has been any wrongdoing, we will correct the problem."

Ed Lanquist of Waddey & Patterson in Nashville represents Capital Confirmation.

Note: Solidus Co., an investor in Capital Confirmation, is also an investor in SouthComm, the parent company of NashvillePost.com.