Freddie Mac (2003)
Company: Federally backed mortgage-financing giant.
What happened: $5 billion in earnings were misstated.
Main players: President/COO David Glenn, Chairman/CEO Leland Brendsel, ex-CFO Vaughn Clarke, former senior VPs Robert Dean and Nazir Dossani.
How they did it: Intentionally misstated and understated earnings on the books.
How they got caught: An SEC investigation.
Penalties: $125 million in fines and the firing of Glenn, Clarke and Brendsel.
Fun fact: 1 year later, the other federally backed mortgage financing company, Fannie Mae, was caught in an equally stunning accounting scandal.