I
n Chapter 2, you had a chance to learn some of the ways cor-
porate managers can influence a company’s financial state-
ments. You saw that when and how revenue was booked could
move income up or down. Extending depreciation was another
income-enhancing tactic. You also saw how these maneuvers
did not conform to GAAP. In fact, members of the public, legis-
lators, journalists, prosecutors, and more than a few jurors have
decided that these actions constitute fraud. Considering the
global impact of WorldCom and Enron and the Sarbanes-Oxley
Act of 2002, a basic understanding of what sorts of fraud a
manager might run across could prove useful.
This chapter will give a wide sweep of both external and
internal fraud. It will show how a manager has to anticipate
fraud at almost every turn, but not turn into a quivering para-
noid.
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Fraud
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