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Fraud is an intentional act to misappropriate (steal) assets or to misstate financial statements

Accounting

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Fraud is an intentional act to misappropriate (steal) assets or to misstate financial statements. There are many documented high-profile collapses of companies due to fraud. As the Enron and WorldCom scandals unfolded, many people asked, “How can these things happen? If such large companies that we have trusted commit such acts, how can we trust any company to be telling the truth in its financial statements? Where were the auditors?”

These scandals caused the creation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in the US (NI52-109 Canadian Equivalent) requiring companies to maintain adequate internal controls and for senior officers to sign-off on the company financial statements, among other things.

Discuss one company which has committed an accounting scandal. Provide details on the fraud committed and preventative measures which could have been taken by the company