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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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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9-104-071 REV: SEPTEMBER 14‚ 2007 ROBERT S. KAPLAN DAVID KIRON Accounting Fraud at WorldCom WorldCom could not have failed as a result of the actions of a limited number of individuals. Rather‚ there was a broad breakdown of the system of internal controls‚ corporate governance and individual responsibility‚ all of which worked together to create a culture in which few persons took responsibility until it was too late. — Richard Thornburgh‚ former U.S. attorney general1 On July 21‚ 2002
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SUBJECT: Forensic Accounting Introduction In this memorandum‚ I will explain the reasons as to why managers feel more pressure than in past years. Also‚ I will discuss several ways that managers can commit fraud for personal gain‚ and how these schemes are eventually caught by forensic accountants. Rising Pressure There has been a growing trend to hold managers accountable for their company’s performance. Wall Street analysts have become enemies of CEOs. These analysts set target quarterly
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The Bible & Accounting Fraud Liberty University Abstract Accounting is an information and measurement system used by mainly all businesses and organizations to provide relevant‚ reliable and comparable information about its business activities‚ (Wild‚ & Shaw‚ & Chiappetta‚ 2011‚ p.272). Accounting Information Systems is a fundamental part of determining the success of an organization. An effective information system provides Internal
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Introduction By June 2002‚ it had become evident to the SEC that WorldCom had engaged in a significant corporate accounting fraud scheme which had overstated pretax income by about $7 billion since 1999. At the time‚ this was the largest deliberate misstatement in US corporate history. Although there are many interesting elements and players involved with this incident‚ for the purpose of this case study I will focus on the role played by Betty Vinson‚ the Director of Management Reporting and
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evaluate the events that occurred prior (causes) and subsequent (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
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Certified ACCounting teChniCiAn exAminAtion SAmple multiple ChoiCe queStionS – June 2009 Paper T7 Planning Control and Performance Management Section A only All questions are compulsory Note: Section B of the actual exam paper will contain four written questions FOR FREE ACCA & CAT RESOURCES VISIT: http://kaka-pakistani.blogspot.com the following questions are typical of those that will appear in Section A of the examination paper from June 2009 onwards. there will be a total of ten
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COVENANT UNIVERSITY‚ COLLEGE OF DEVELOPMENT STUDIES‚ SCHOOL OF BUSINESS‚ DEPARTMENT OF ACCOUNTING COURSE: FORENSIC ACCOUNTING COURSE CODE: ACC 416 WEEK: 10 TOPIC: FORENSIC ACCOUNTING AND FRAUD AUDITING OBJECTIVE: To acquire the knowledge and skills about forensic audit‚ its reporting and documentation. THE CONTEXT OF FORENSIC AUDITING Forensic audit encompasses the examination of evidence regarding an assertion to determine its correspondence to establish criteria carried out in a manner
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Accounting Fraud at WorldCom 1) What are the pressures that lead executives and managers to “cook the books?” After the rapid evolution of the telecommunication industry in the 1990s‚ WorldCom shifted its strategy to focus on building revenues and acquiring capacity sufficient to handle expected growth. Their biggest goal was to be the No. 1 stock on Wall Street rather than capturing the market share. As a result‚ their Expense-to-Revenue (E/R) Ratio was their measurement for their main objective
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