Accounting Fraud Prevention - the Sarbannes Oxley Act of 2002

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Abstract In 2002, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act was passed to give investors more confidence and prevent accounting fraud. However, could the Sarbanes-Oxley Act have prevented three specific scandals? In reviewing the scandals at Phar-Mor, Waste Management and Enron, Title I and Title II will prove to be the key to preventing these types of scandals from happening in the future and put the focus of the audit back on the investor. Introduction In the 1990s and 2000s, the United States was riddled with accounting scandals that diminished investor confidence in the stock market, In response, Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, or SOX, to win back investors and protect them from accounting fraud in the future. However, could the Sarbanes-Oxley Act have prevented scandals like Phar-Mor, Waste Management and Enron? After reviewing each scandal, we will explore the Sarbanes-Oxley Act for answers. Phar-Mor Inc Phar-Mor Inc was a discount drugstore chain founded in 1982 and headed by Michael J. “Mickey” Monus. Under the direction of Monus, the company had many accounting issues that could be easily caught by any auditor. The issues stemmed from embezzlement by Monus for both personal and professional pursuits and fictitious inventory on the books that covered the company’s losses. By 1992, three of the company’s four financial executives had previously worked for Phar-Mor’s auditor, Coopers & Lybrand. Therefore, Monus and other executives used their knowledge of the audit process to cover up their fraud (Williams, 2011). First, the company created “bucket accounts” where cover-up activities were recorded and then moved and divided between inventory of existing stores. The executives knew that the auditor would not audit accounts with a zero balance, therefore, the “bucket accounts” were never reviewed by the auditor. Second, the auditor did not review

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