culture, politics, commentary, criticism

Friday, December 05, 2003
Wrong scapegoat? Regular readers will know that I tend to rattle on about how the Arthur Andersen indictment was a convenient smokescreen meant to shift attention from the real perpetrators of the Enron mess — namely, the lavish Bush-Cheney contributors also known as the senior management of Enron.

It turns out that other untouched mega-accounting firms may have had more direct responsibility in the Enron mess than their scapegoat auditors (Eric Berger,
Houston Chronicle):
An independent examiner in Enron's bankruptcy says accounting firm KPMG was "willfully blind" to the fraudulence of a series of financial transactions the energy company used to inflate its bottom line.

KPMG also knew that former Enron Chief Financial Officer Andrew Fastow, who managed the LJM1 and LJM2 financing vehicles, received about $40 million from the improper deals he helped arrange, the examiner says.

The conclusions come in an investigation into the roles three banks and two accounting firms played in Enron's collapse. They are part of a 457-page report submitted Thursday to Enron's bankruptcy court by Harrison Goldin, a former New York City controller.

The accounting firm denied the accusations in the strongest of terms, calling Goldin's report "utterly baseless and irresponsible."

This is the first time an accounting firm other than Arthur Andersen, now defunct, has been critically associated with misdeeds at Enron. Until Thursday, KPMG's role had gone largely undocumented.

In his report, Goldin also found another accounting firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers, was "grossly negligent" in preparing a fairness opinion for certain transactions layjailinvolving LJM1 and Enron. The firm, known as PwC, relied on factual misrepresentations it knew were not justified from Enron executives, and the reports it prepared for Enron's board of directors were of no value.
There's no doubt it was partially involved, but was Arthur Andersen set up to take the full brunt of the Enron scandal? Probably. The firm also happened to be the auditors of a certain outfit also known for financial irregularities called Halliburton when its CEO was called Cheney. Destroying Andersen had multiple benefits of convenience for the entire White House — both the president and vice president.

Missing in action throughout these legal machinations are the Enron executives themselves (excluding former CFO Fastow and his lovely wife, Enron art buyer Lea Fastow). Kenny Boy and Skilling must have some sort of presidential magic force field of immunity surrounding their purloined estates.

Why is it that crimes involving enormous amounts of capital don't deserve capital punishment? This is, after all, Texas we're talking about.
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Greatest Hits · Alternatives to First Command Financial Planning · First Command, last resort, Part 3 · Part 2 · Part 1 · Stealing $50K from a widow: Wells Real Estate · Leo Wells, REITs and divine wealth · Sex-crazed Red State teenagers · What I hate: a manifesto · Spawn of Darleen Druyun · All-American high school sex party · Why is Ken Lay smiling? · Poppy's Enron birthday party · The Saudi money laundry and the president's uncle · The sentence of Enron's John Forney · The holiness of Neil Bush's marriage · The Silence of Cheney: a poem · South Park Christians · Capitalist against Bush: Warren Buffett · Fastow childen vs. Enron children · Give your prescription money to your old boss · Neil Bush, hard-working matchmaker · Republicans against fetuses and pregnant women · Emboldened Ken Lay · Faith-based jails · Please die for me so I can skip your funeral · A brief illustrated history of the Republican Party · Nancy Victory · Soldiers become accountants · Beware the Merrill Lynch mob · Darleen Druyun's $5.7 billion surprise · First responder funding · Hoovering the country · First Command fifty percent load · Ken Lay and the Atkins diet · Halliburton WMD · Leave no CEO behind · August in Crawford · Elaine Pagels · Profitable slave labor at Halliburton · Tom Hanks + Mujahideen · Sharon & Neilsie Bush · One weekend a month, or eternity · Is the US pumping Iraqi oil to Kuwait? · Cheney's war · Seth Glickenhaus: Capitalist against Bush · Martha's blow job · Mark Belnick: Tyco Catholic nut · Cheney's deferred Halliburton compensation · Jeb sucks sugar cane · Poindexter & LifeLog · American Family Association panic · Riley Bechtel and the crony economy · The Book of Sharon (Bush) · The Art of Enron · Plunder convention · Waiting in Kuwait: Jay Garner · What's an Army private worth? · Barbara Bodine, Queen of Baghdad · Sneaky bastards at Halliburton · Golf course and barbecue military strategy · Enron at large · Recent astroturf · Cracker Chic 2 · No business like war business · Big Brother · Martha Stewart vs. Thomas White · Roger Kimball, disappointed Republican poetry fan · Cheney, Lay, Afghanistan · Terry Lynn Barton, crimes of burning · Feasting at the Cheney trough · Who would Jesus indict? · Return of the Carlyle Group · Duct tape is for little people · GOP and bad medicine · Sears Tower vs Mt Rushmore · Scared Christians · Crooked playing field · John O'Neill: The man who knew · Back to the top






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