Andersen guilty in Enron scandal

12 April 2012

ARTHUR Andersen, the accountancy firm embroiled in the Enron scandal, has been convicted of obstructing justice.

A jury in Houston, Texas, decided that the destruction of paper and computer files last autumn was not 'routine housekeeping', but an attempt to thwart federal regulators investigating the collapsed US energy trader Enron.

Enron became the world's biggest bankrupt with losses of £55bn last December. Prosecutor Andrew Weissman said the case boiled down to a simple principle: 'When you expect the police, you don't destroy evidence.' The outcome is expected to bolster the efforts of prosecutors investigating Enron's collapse.

Andersen, which is based in Chicago, faces up to five years of probation and a fine of up to $500,000 (£340,000). The sentence will be delivered in October and the company could also be fined up to twice any gains or damages the court determines were caused by the firm's action.

This was the first criminal trial to emerge from the scandal. Andersen has lost hundreds of clients and partners. The firm and its employees are also likely to face more prosecutions.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in