...Bankruptcy Fraud By Robyn Carter Forensic Accounting Data Analysis Bill Makkkawi October 13, 2009 Bankruptcy Fraud What is Bankruptcy? Bankruptcy is a way for individuals or businesses to satisfy debts. There are four types of bankruptcy. There is Chapter 7 which is a complete liquidation for individuals. Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidates assets that are not exempt and uses the proceeds to pay creditors. In this bankruptcy creditors may be paid in full or a percentage based on the assets that were available. There is Chapter 11 which is for a business. Chapter 11 allows a business to reorganize its operation and finances so that it can pay its creditors. Sometimes in Chapter 11 another entity may take over the original entity in the reorganization. Creditors are told to give the entity time to reorganize and pay the debts. Then, there is Chapter 13 which is reorganization for individuals. Chapter 13 gives individuals a chance to pay creditors over 3 to 5 years through a Bankruptcy Trustee. Most assets can be kept depending on what percentage of the debts will be paid. If the debtor is paying the creditors in full then they would be able to keep all of their assets. This is only available for debtors with verifiable disposable income. The last type is Chapter 12 which is for farmers and fishermen (LII / Legal Information Institute). After completion of whichever chapter used, the creditor gets a “fresh start”. White Collar...
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...According to the IRS, ten percent of bankruptcy filings are fraud and less than one percent of those are convicted. Bankruptcy can be filed when a company or a land owner is unable to pay overwhelming debts. Sometimes people hide their money and assets, and file bankruptcy just so they won’t have to pay back the debts that they owe even though that person is fully capable of doing so, which is illegal. This is called bankruptcy fraud, which is federal white collar crime which can lead to a maximum of 5 years in jail, and a $250,000 fine. People that you would most commonly see commit this fraud are private citizens, small business owners, corporate CEOs, real estate agents, politicians, and loan officers. There are four very common types of bankruptcy fraud, which are the concealment of assets, filing multiple times, giving false statements, and bust outs. Bankruptcy can be a hard thing to do for someone. Almost anyone filing for bankruptcy is truthful, has good intentions and is hard working. Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, the job market, the loss of your job or the high interest rates can be too much for someone to meet. There are two types of bankruptcy that someone can have, which are straight bankruptcy, and reorganization. When dealing with straight bankruptcy, someone isn’t able to pay their debts, like car loans, credit card debts, or mortgage. This usually involves homeowners, which allows them to start with a clean slate. With reorganization, that person is...
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...perpetrators use sophisticated means to conceal their activities through a series of complex transactions. I researched and found an article on a type of white-collar crime. This is the story of a Minnesota resident named Denny Hecker. The case has finally come to an end. Hecker was sentenced to a prison term of 10 years for two counts of fraud and one count of conspiracy. He is the former owner of an auto empire with Chrysler in Minnesota with 26 locations and also owned car rental businesses including Advantage Rent-A-Car. Hecker was basically in a big hole and trying to get out of it. He was hiding assets from the bankruptcy court and was also altering loan documents that ultimately defrauded clients, Chrysler Financial and other lenders out of more than $80 million in loans and 13 million in losses (star tribune). The crime data I researched and found are offenders are much older, score low on conscientiousness and self-control and have either a dominating extrovert, disagreeable or neurotic personality determinant. There are four major types of bankruptcy fraud and they are: hiding property, giving false statements on official bankruptcy forms, filing multiple...
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...Fraud is a serious problem for most businesses today and often technology compounds the problem. In addition, the role of the independent auditor in the detection of fraud is often questioned. (http://www.swlearning.com/accounting/hall/ais_4e/study_notes/ch03.pdf) Fraud is dishonest activity causing actual or potential financial loss to any person or entity including theft of money or other property by employees or persons and where deception is used at the time, immediately before or immediately following the activity. (http://about.curtin.edu.au/definitions-impact.cfm) * Types of Fraud (http://www.auditsol.com.au/media/Fraudw.pdf) 1. Employee fraud Is internal or employee frauds are when fraud is committed against the company or organization a person is working for. Internal frauds can include: * payment fraud Payment fraud is any fraud that involves falsely creating or diverting payments. Payment fraud can include: * creating bogus customer records and bank accounts so that false payments can be generated * intercepting and altering payee details and amounts on cheques and Payable Orders, then attempting to cash them * creating false payment and financial information to support fraudulent claims for benefits * processing false claims by accomplices for benefits, grants or repayments self authorizing payments to oneself. * procurement fraud Procurement fraud is any fraud relating to a company purchasing goods,...
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...the telecommunications industry entered a downturn and WorldCom’s aggressive growth strategy suffered a serious setback when it was forced by the US Justice Department to abandon its proposed merger with Sprint in mid 2000. By that time, WorldCom’s stock was declining and Ebbers came under increasing pressure from banks to cover margin calls on his WorldCom stock that was used to finance his other businesses (timber and yachting, among others). During 2001, Ebbers persuaded WorldCom’s board of directors to provide him corporate loans and guarantees in excess of $400 million to cover his margin calls. The board hoped that the loans would avert the need for Ebbers to sell substantial amounts of his WorldCom stock, as his doing so would put further downward pressure in the stock's price. However, this strategy ultimately failed and Ebbers was ousted as CEO in April 2002 and replaced by John Sidgmore, former CEO of UUNet Technologies, Inc. Beginning modestly in mid-year 1999 and continuing at an accelerated pace through May 2002, the company (under the direction of Ebbers, Scott Sullivan (CFO), David Myers (Controller) and Buford "Buddy" Yates (Director of General Accounting)) used fraudulent accounting methods to mask its declining earnings by painting a false picture of financial growth and profitability to prop up the price of WorldCom’s stock. The fraud was accomplished primarily in two ways: Underreporting ‘line costs’ (interconnection expenses with other telecommunication...
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...Enron, a well-known energy trading company, went bankrupt in Oct. 2002. Enron was one of the largest energy companies in the world. When Enron filed for bankruptcy in 2002, its stock prices dropped to $0.67 per shares from $ 90.75 per shares. There were many reasons behind the bankruptcy such as a series of accounting frauds, poor corporate ethics and failure of board of directors and audit Company. Enron’s CFO came with a plan of making the company look good financially, even though the company was losing money. His plan was to hide the assets that were losing money which made it easier for them to keep the assets off of the company’s book. They started to issue common stock to shareholders to compensate them for the loss. But this game could not go on for a long time; finally some people started to raise question about Enron’s income in 2000. SEC, which is a Government agency protecting the investors from accounting frauds, started an investigation of Enron’s financial transactions in 2001. After a few months of investigation, Enron filed for bankruptcy at the end of 2001.Sherron Watkins, who was a vice president of Enron corporations, testified her role in the fraud before US Senate and Representatives after the bankruptcy. A power committee was appointed by US senate to investigate the reason behind the bankruptcy. They found that Enron had overstated its earnings by millions of dollars. They also discovered that company paid unapproved bonus to its managers and executives...
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...discusses and analyzes the events leading up to the failure of Lehman Brothers as well as outcomes and repercussions of one of the largest bankruptcy cases to date. The first part of this paper describes the primary factors that contributed to the ultimate demise of Lehman Brothers. The main factors that lead to the crisis include, but are not limited to; the misrepresentation of financial statements, a complete lack of internal control, accounting as well as management collusion, managerial fraud, increased moral hazard, and the overpayment of executives within the firm. Misrepresentation of the financial statements and the misuse of accounting practices was the main reason for the Collapse of Lehman Brothers. It was said that upper management violated the Sarbanes-Oxley Act through the use of questionable and unethical accounting practices, more specifically through the use of Repo 105 transactions. The second part of this paper addresses the underlying causes and issues relative to the study of financial ethics. This paper also addresses those who were involved as well as affected by the events that took place in the Lehman Brothers scandal. After evaluating the reasons for Lehman Brothers failure, the report discusses possible courses of action to take in order to avoid a similar situation. Detailed solutions to eliminate internal fraud and collusion for this case have been documented in the following pages as well. The most effective method for reducing these problems is increasing...
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...Scandal and Fraud in the Business World Diana Christina Lopez The University of Houston-Victoria Abstract These papers explore the scandal and fraud of two multibillion dollar companies who file for the largest bankruptcy in business history. In the case of both Enron and WorldCom, the causes of fraud surrounded the manipulation and misleading financial reports created by accountants. Enron was accused of lying about its profits and committing a range of inappropriate deals, including hiding the company’s debt so it would not show in the financial statements to the public. Enron was not the only company that made history for fraudulent events. WorldCom, the largest handler of long distance internet data filed for bankruptcy a year after Enron. Although Enron and WorldCom were scandals that shocked the world, they are learning examples of what can no longer be happen in corporations. Government leaders are also announcing major changes in the regulations of accounting and corporate governance to bring trust back into the financial market. Key terms: Enron, WorldCom, Sarbanes-Oxley Act, Accounting, Fraud, Scandal, Financial reports Scandal and Fraud in the Business World Over the past few years, all we heard and seen in the media is how multibillion dollar companies are filling for bankruptcy. Many wonder how companies with growing income can fall apart from one day to another. Who is to blame? Many experts blame the unethical practices by accountants. Accounting...
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...well-established business had to file bankruptcy; fraud, tampering with financial records, deceiving employees and stockholders, embezzlement, and upper management practicing unethical business practices all proved to be key components in Enron’s downfall. Enron was a company that despite its long-term success fell apart in the end due to lack of internal controls and misguided executives and management. Corruption, scandal, theft, and inefficiency all led to the bankruptcy of a once well-established business that today, still has a tarnished reputation that will never recover. Had upper management been ethically balanced, this White Collar crime could have been avoided along with billions of dollars lost, thousands of jobs lost, and people’s trust in the financial industry destroyed. White Collar Crime is defined as non-violent, financially-based criminal activity typically undertaken within a setting in which its participants retain advanced education with regard to employment that is considered to be prestigious (Laws.Com). Enron and its top leaders not only misrepresented earnings reports, but embezzled funds from its investors making this company’s scandal the most notorious business failure in history. Enron’s fraudulent business practices affected thousands of people, and the laws that were broken, along with the crimes that were attempted to be covered up in the end, led to the destruction of a business that people counted on. Companies file bankruptcy on a daily basis, but Enron...
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...Corporation was an American energy, commodities and services company based in Houston, Texas. From the 1990's until December 2001, Enron was famous throughout the business world and was named by Fortune as "America's Most Innovative Company" for six consecutive years. It grew wealthy due largely to marketing, promoting power, and its high stock price. Before its bankruptcy, Enron employed about 21,000 staff in forty countries and was one of the world's major electricity, natural gas, communications, and pulp and paper companies, which claimed revenues of $100.8 billion in 2000. Enron gave the illusion that it was a steady company with good revenue which was not the case, as a large part of its profits were made on paper through a creatively planned accounting fraud. Deep debt and surfacing information about hiding losses gave the company big problems and in the late 2001 Enron declared bankruptcy under the United States Bankruptcy Code. The collapse was followed by a series of revelations on how the executives manipulated Enron's success. The Fraud Schemes The Enron scandal, revealed in October 2001 was a management fraud involving top executives of Enron who deliberately manipulated the accounting structures in order to conceal their losses and debts so that the corporation appeared to be performing favourably. They adopted mark-to-market accounting, an accounting system based on market value, which was then inflated; the use of special purpose entities to understate Enron’s...
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...Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative University of New Mexico http://danielsethics.mgt.unm.edu WorldCom’s Bankruptcy Crisis INTRODUCTION The story of WorldCom began in 1983 when businessmen Murray Waldron and William Rector sketched out a plan to create a long-distance telephone service provider on a napkin in a coffee shop in Hattiesburg, Miss. Their new company, Long Distance Discount Service (LDDS), began operating as a long distance reseller in 1984. Early investor Bernard Ebbers was named CEO the following year. Through acquisitions and mergers, LDDS grew quickly over the next 15 years. The company changed its name to WorldCom, achieved a worldwide presence, acquired telecommunications giant MCI, and eventually expanded beyond long distance service to offer the whole range of telecommunications services. WorldCom became the second-largest long-distance telephone company in America, and the firm seemed poised to become one of the largest telecommunications corporations in the world. Instead, it became the largest bankruptcy filing in U.S. history at the time and another name on a long list of those disgraced by the accounting scandals of the early 21st century. ACCOUNTING FRAUD AND ITS CONSEQUENCES Unfortunately for thousands of employees and shareholders, WorldCom used questionable accounting practices and improperly recorded $3.8 billion in capital expenditures, which boosted cash flows and profit over all four quarters in 2001 as well as the first quarter of 2002. This disguised...
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...accounting scandal 2. How did WORLDCOM cook its books? 3. Conclusion WORLDCOM headquarter in Virginia, USA. WORLDCOM’S ACCOUNTING SCANDAL WorldCom, established in 1983, whose CEO was Bernard Ebbers, was the second largest long distance phone company in the US after AT&T. It could be seen as a pride of America until it got into one of the biggest accounting scandals in the American history which finally led to its bankruptcy in 2002. On July 21st, 2012, WorldCom filed for bankruptcy, which was worth 103.9 billion USD and became the largest filing at its time. Its CEO, Bernard Ebbers, was found totally guilty and sentenced to 25-year imprisonment regarding the crime of stock and accounting fraud. Before WorldCom, the world had seen several cases of famous, or infamous, financial and accounting frauds, including Enron, Tyco, Aldelphia, Global Crossing and HealthSouth. Such cases, we can say, were quite complicated to trace, but WorldCom used a simple recipe to cook the book, which will be illustrated below. HOW DID WORLDCOM COOK ITS BOOKS? To understand the fraud occurring at WorldCom, we should basically understand the difference between operating and capital expenditures first, and then we would move on to the details on how the books were adjusted to cause problems. To begin with, what are operating and capital expenditures? Examples would be provided to clarify these notions in the simplest way. If company X spends $1000 on annual maintenance of the central server computer...
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...demise of AT&T Corp. was not wholly attributable to WorldCom's behavior, AT&T Corp.'s decimation certainly was facilitated by the events surrounding WorldCom, since WorldCom was the benchmark long distance telephone and Internet communications service provider. Indeed, the ripple effect of WorldCom's demise goes far beyond one company and several senior managers. It had a profound effect on an entire industry. This postscript will update the WorldCom story by focusing on what happened to the company after it declared bankruptcy and before it was acquired by Verizon. The postscript also will relate subsequent important events in the telecommunications industry, the effect of WorldCom's problems on its competitors and labor market, and the impact WorldCom had on the lives of the key players associated with the fraud and its exposure. From Benchmark to Bankrupt Between July 2002 when WorldCom declared bankruptcy and April 2004 when it emerged from bankruptcy as MCI, company officials worked feverishly to restate the financials and reorganize the company. The new CEO Michael Capellas (formerly CEO of Compaq Computer) and the newly appointed CFO Robert Blakely faced the daunting task of settling the company's outstanding debt of around $35 billion and performing a rigorous financial audit of the company. This...
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...to closure or bankruptcy. Some examples of internal unethical accounting practices include under and overstatement of expenses, revenue, liabilities, and corporate assets, misuse of capital (possibly for personal gain), etc. Examples of external unethical practices would include fraud regarding trade and investment, bribery, and kickbacks, and manipulation of financial market regulations. Enron Corporation is one of several companies who have committed unethical and illegal accounting actions. Enron started in the 1990s in Houston, Texas. This American company concentrated on the energy sector. In the highlights of Enron’s success, it has about 21,000 employees and considered the leading supplier of electricity, natural gas, communication, and paper. Enron’s perceived success was a mask for the cast schemed fraud called the “Enron Scandal” (Kadlee et. al. 2002). Enron Corporation not only committed financial fraud but also may have been brining people for contracts on South America. Later, this accumulated, and reports started to appear regarding the fishy accounting structure of Enron and its partner in crime, Arthur Anderson (accounting firm). Consequently, Enron resulted in bankruptcy. This bankruptcy would be the world’s largest bankruptcy filing after the same audit failure of WorldCom earlier. Before Enron filed bankruptcy, its blue chip stock prices dropped from approximately 90 dollars to 30 cents. Considering there was only a faint clue of Enron’s fraud, this uncalled-for...
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...demise of AT&T Corp. was not wholly attributable to WorldCom's behavior, AT&T Corp.'s decimation certainly was facilitated by the events surrounding WorldCom, since WorldCom was the benchmark long distance telephone and Internet communications service provider. Indeed, the ripple effect of WorldCom's demise goes far beyond one company and several senior managers. It had a profound effect on an entire industry. This postscript will update the WorldCom story by focusing on what happened to the company after it declared bankruptcy and before it was acquired by Verizon. The postscript also will relate subsequent important events in the telecommunications industry, the effect of WorldCom's problems on its competitors and labor market, and the impact WorldCom had on the lives of the key players associated with the fraud and its exposure. From Benchmark to Bankrupt Between July 2002 when WorldCom declared bankruptcy and April 2004 when it emerged from bankruptcy as MCI, company officials worked feverishly to restate the financials and reorganize the company. The new CEO Michael Capellas (formerly CEO of Compaq Computer) and the newly appointed CFO Robert Blakely faced the daunting task of settling the company's outstanding debt of around $35 billion and performing a rigorous financial audit of the company. This...
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