• Stock Option Backdating: What’s the Big Deal?

    The list of companies involved in stock option backdating and related investigations continues to grow. The Wall Street Journal currently lists more than 120 companies under scrutiny, including the likes of UnitedHealth, Broadcom, Apple, and Home Depot. These companies are […]

  • What Does the Future Hold For Finance and CFOs?

    Financial Executive Magazine By Jeffrey Marshall and Ellen M. Heffes The editors reached out to a wide range of experts — CFOs and former CFOs, consultants, academics, accountants and technology vendors — to get their thoughts about what the coming […]

  • Another MLM Under Investigation

    The Texas Attorney General recently announced that it is investigating Mannatech, another multi-level marketing company scam That offers “nutritional supplements.” The company’s main products, Abrotose (formerly known as glyconutritional) is a sugar pill that the company’s representatives claim cure all […]

  • Conspiracy of Fools: Chewco was not separate from Enron

    Chewco, one of the special purpose entities (SPE) that Enron used to enhance its financial statements, was under examination by the Arthur Andersen accountants. Specifically, they came across a letter that indicated that six million dollars from JEDI (another SPE) […]

  • Conspiracy of Fools: Who’s In Charge?

    The partners at Arthur Andersen were having another argument about the management of the Enron account. As usual, Enron executives were throwing their weight around and trying to dictate who could be involved on their engagement. Specifically, they didn’t want […]

  • Conviction of Bernie Ebbers Upheld by Appeals Court

    Today the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld the conviction and prison sentence of former WorldCom CEO Bernard Ebbers. The 64-year-old defendant was convicted in 2005 of nine counts of conspiracy, securities fraud, and false SEC filings. […]

  • Enron: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

    Written by Tracy L. Coenen, CPA, CFF Andrews Litigation Reporter After a trial that lasted almost four months, Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling, both former heads of Enron Corp., have been convicted of multiple federal offenses related to the collapse […]

  • The Future of Fraud

    Massive frauds at companies such as Enron, Tyco, and WorldCom brought significant attention to the subject of fraud in public companies. The frauds became real as jobs were eliminated, investors lost millions of dollars, and families lost their savings. Faith […]

  • Conspiracy of Fools: Clever Nicknames for Enron’s Scams

    John Forney, an Enron energy trader, came up with an idea to skirt the trading rules in California. Enron and Portland General were considered related, so California did not allow them to deal with each other on energy trading transactions. […]

  • Lay and Skilling found guilty of fraud and conspiracy charges

    Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling, both former heads of Enron Corp., were found guilty by a jury on Thursday of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud. The trial lasted almost four months, and the jury deliberated for nearly […]