In Deloitte's defense, a massive collusive fraud that involves a client's top executives and the active participation of its accountants is extremely difficult to detect. Making matters worse for Deloitte was the contemptuous attitude that Livent's executives had toward independent auditors. At one point, a top Livent officer told a suvordinate that independent auditors were a necessary evil and that it was no one's business how they ran their company. Also complicating the Livent audits for Deloitte was the fact Maria Messina and Christopher Craib, two former members of the Livent audit engagement team, had accepted key accounting positions with the company. The personal relationships the auditors had with Messina and Craib may have impaired their objectivity during the Livent engagements.