Corporate Scandals and Accounting
Although corporate frauds and scandals are hardly new, the latest set of them has set
records for their magnitude and scope. Figure 1-5 provides a list of some examples. Sadly,
this list is neither complete nor particularly current, as new discoveries involving the
misrepresentation of assets and incomes continue to surface.
Of particular note on this list are the Enron scandal and the case against Bernard
Madoff. The Enron scandal is important because of the amount of money and jobs that
were lost, and also because so much of it appears to be directly related to the adroit
manipulation of accounting records. Although the details of these manipulations are
complex, the results were to understate the liabilities of the company as well as to inflate
its earnings and net worth. The opinion of most experts today is that the mechanics of these