reform and delayed the process all to the benefit of the businesses it should be regulating. “Fraud has never been legal‚ so why has it not been prosecuted?” (Prasch) Renewed interest of ethical issues in the accounting profession is due to scandals involving accounting fraud‚ i.e. Enron‚ WorldCom‚ and Tyco. “Client pressure to present a favorable financial picture of a corporation’s health may lead to ethical breaches” (Adkins & Radke) “New calls for regulations…are specifically concerned
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The 10 biggest frauds in recent U.S. History Enron: The energy company’s bankruptcy in 2001 after allegations of massive accounting fraud wiped out $78 billion in stock market value and led to the collapse of Arthur Andersen and the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. A class action settlement of $7.185 billion was the largest of all time. Former President Jeff Skilling is serving a 24 year sentence. Bernard Madoff: New York money manager Bernard Madoff’s $65 billion Ponzi scheme‚ the
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Accounting Fraud at WorldCom LDDS began operations in 1984 offering services to local retail and commercial customers in the southern states. It was initially a loss making enterprise‚ and thus hired Bernie J. (Bernie) Ebbers to run things. It took him less than a year to make the company profitable. By the end of 1993‚ LDDS was the fourth largest long distance carrier in the United States. After a shareholder vote in May 1995‚ the company officially came to be known as WorldCom. WorldCom culture
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ETHICS OF CREATIVE ACCOUNTING Introduction: In the accounting world‚ the general rule is that accounts should give a true and fair view. Under local and international law‚ a professionally experienced accountant has a responsibility to meet the terms‚ a corporation has a legal responsibility to meet the terms‚ and auditors have a legal responsibility to give some species of judgment on compliance. Although the function of accounting principles and other rules‚ creative accounting has constantly played
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Corporate Scandals: How Greed Consumed the American Dream Enron is not even at the top of the list. More and more corporate scandals are happening in America. Why have these scandals just shown up in recent years? What causes these corporations to lie and be deceitful towards investors? Though once seen as legitimate‚ fair‚ honest‚ and respectable‚ corporations have arrived at a stage of greed and deception. This can be explained by a number of factors such as the how the stock market works‚ the
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(outcome) to the fraud‚ and the accounting schemes employed to get the fraud done. It presents examples of companies who have used inappropriate accounting practices. Enron‚ WorldCom‚ Tyco‚ HealthSouth and Adelphia were selected for analysis because of the availability of information regarding specific events occured before‚ during and after the fraud period as well as the ethical issues involved . There is abundant literature presented on the Enron and WorldCom scandal. Tyco‚ Adelphia‚ and HealthSouth
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example of creative accounting. It is also given as a good example of accounting fraud and insider trading. This is a good example of creative accounting taken too far - not many would disagree that it was accounting fraud‚ although some would say they were just unlucky to get caught. after all‚ the auditors were Arthur Anderson‚ at the time one of the most respected auditing firms. Creative Accounting – Example 1 – Creating multiple trading entities The creative accounting involved setting up
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SUBJECT: Accounting fraud at WorldCom Problem Statement WorldCom penetrated the largest accounting fraud in U.S history by overstating its tax income between 1999 and 2002. The main players in WorldCom’s accounting fraud included CFO Scott Sullivan‚ the General Accounting and Internal Audit departments‚ external auditor Arthur Andersen‚ and the board of directors. While individuals did have their own sins‚ employees cowardice and self-interested‚ the board passive and ineffective‚ external auditors
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The Lucent Accounting Scandal Abstract The case discusses the accounting frauds committed at the US-based telecommunications giant‚ Lucent Technologies Inc. (Lucent) during early 2000. It provides an insight into the ways by which the financial statements were manipulated at Lucent. It examines the loopholes in the financial management of the company and the price it had to pay for circumventing the provisions of law. The case examines the allegations against Lucent and its officers with reference
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Parmalat Accounting Scandal Summary After eluding financial analysts and investors for a long time‚ Parmalat went bankrupt later in December‚ 2003 and many of their board of directors have been arrested since then. Here is a brief summary of the events: In the late 1980’s‚ Parmalat’s financial situation was poor due to investment in side businesses. i.e. TV network‚ Parmatur‚ football teams (Palmeiras‚ Parma‚ etc). Cash siphoning through these companies was estimated to be
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