Enron Scandal
By: Allie Woodason
Company name and 5 bits of information:
American energy company based out of Houston, very big company, the CEO was Jeff Skilling.
What happened?
Shareholders lost $74 billion, thousands of employees and investors lost their retirement accounts, and many employees lost their jobs.
Main players:
The main players were CEO Jeff Skilling and former CEO Ken Lay.
Penalties:
Lay died before serving time; Skilling got 24 years in prison. The company filed for bankruptcy. Arthur Andersen was found guilty of fudging Enron's accounts.
How did they do it:
They kept huge debts off balance sheets.
How they got caught:
They were turned in by Sherron Watkins; high stock prices fueled external suspicions.
3 facts:
The former CEO died before serving time.
The Enron scandal is one of the most well known American accounting scandals.
Known as a white collar crime.