Corporation® and WorldCom® Your Name October 31st, 2012 FIN/486 Instructor Enron Corporation and WorldCom In the last decade, two powerful American companies, Enron Corporation and WorldCom, have become the models of accounting corporate fraud. The Enron Corporation was founded in 1985 by Kenneth Law in Omaha, Nebraska. The company later moved its operation to Houston Texas when InterNorth and Houston Natural Gas merged. This American organization offered paper, pulp, electric, communication
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accounting processes being used in his firm (and undoubtedly he was aware) and should have taken steps to prevent others test for ethics. Authur Anderson also missed opportunities where he could have disclosed the fraud. Cynthia Cooper and her team where the first people who uncovered the major fraud that was taking place at WorldCom. Accountants at WorldCom capitalized expenses in blatant violation of generally accepted accounting principles under the pressure from above management to maintain income growth
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Puffery Comparing your product to that of a competitor without scientific studies to substantiate your claims could lead to charges of deception. Saying you make a better pizza is puffery. Saying two out of three people prefer your pizza when you have no studies to substantiate the claim crosses the line to deception. Literal false largely applies to promotional materials that involve statistical and testing proof of claims. The “tests prove” literal false advertising is where advertising relies
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concerns you have that may suggest fraud is occurring in the company. The Fraud Triangle ©2012 Prentice Hall Business Publishing, Auditing 14/e, Arens/Elder/Beasley The fraud triangle originated from Donald Cressey's hypothesis (Donald R. Cressey, 1973). The fraud triangle is a model for explaining the factors that cause someone to commit occupational fraud (acfe, n.d.). Type of fraud: Management fraud Fraudulent financial
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Insight on WorldCom Scandal Table of Contents ABSTRACT 2 The importance of accounting conceptual framework 3 Historical Background 5 The Scandal – what happened 6 PENALTIES 7 How the scandal relates to accounting theory 8 RELATION TO POSITIVE ACCOUNTING THEORY 9 Conservatism Principle 9 Lack of Reliability 10 Lack of Relevance 11 Financial Misstatement 11 Conclusion 12 Bibliography 14 Insight on WorldCom Scandal ABSTRACT The scope of this paper deals with the
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financial growth and profitability. The fraud was accomplished two ways. First, the accounting department underreported line costs (interconnection expenses with other telecommunication companies) by capitalizing these costs on the balance sheet rather than properly expensing them. Secondly, the company inflated revenues with bogus accounting entries from corporate unallocated revenue accounts (WorldCom Scandal). Between 2002, when WorldCom declared bankruptcy and April 2004 when it emerged from
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these immense frauds from occurring in the future. As a response to these large frauds, in 2002, the US Government passed the Sarbanes – Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) issued Statement on Auditing Standards No. 99(SAS No. 99) to improve investor confidence and the auditing function’s ability to detect material frauds. The intent of this thesis was to look at the fraudulent factors associated with several recent corporate frauds and compare
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former Chief Executive Officer of WorldCom, Inc. ("WorldCom"), reported to a federal prison in Oakdale, Louisiana, to begin serving his 25-year jail sentence from his conviction by a jury on nine counts of conspiracy, securities fraud and related crimes related to the bankruptcy of WorldCom in July 2002. Ebbers' appeals from his conviction and 25-year jail sentence were dismissed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on July 28, 2006.1 In its decision upholding the jury conviction
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big accounting fraud. The corporate scandal of WorldCom ultimately headed the company towards the disgrace that ensued in the biggest bankruptcy in American history. After this act company terminated the service of the top executive including Scott Sullivan (Sullivan), the Chief Financial Officer and David Myers, the Senior Vice President and Controller. The main entity accused of this fraud in the company was the Arthur Anderson WorldCom auditor. The company auditors did the fraud and held Sullivan
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Professional ethics Ethics has been defined as the study of moral principles and values that govern the actions and decision of an individual or group. An ethical dilemma is a situation that an individual faces involving a decision about appropriate behavior. Districts involved in making any decisions generally include: 1. Identify the problem 2. Identify possible courses of action 3. Identify any constraints relating to the decision 4. Analyze the likely effect of the possible
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