Quote:
Originally posted by Undertoad
No punishment, that is, except the end of your entire firm and the disgrace of the entire industry. Anderson did get what was coming to them although I'm sure most of their accountants just landed at other firms getting the former Anderson clients.
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Arthur Andersen was blamed on 15 Jun 2002 for Enron fraud. It is still in business as its accounts are transferred to other accounting firms. Andersen was also involved in previous major frauds but not prosecuted - Sunbeam, Waste Management, Asia Pulp and Paper, and the Baptist Foundation of Arizona, among others. Many divisions were spun off (ie Accenture) or sold to other accounting firms (ie Ernst and Young). IOW their partners - the people ultimately resonsible - did not lose everything.
In the meantime, all five major accounting firms (PricewaterhouseCooper, Ernst & Young, KPMG, and Deloitte & Touche) are accused of fraud. Only Andersen was prosecuted because Enron and MCI Worldcom (both Andersen accounts) were just too big to ignore and so easy to prosecute. Fraud was that openly practiced.