U.S. Department of Justice (conviction reversed by the Supreme Court) · United States

Arthur Andersen LLP: action by U.S. Department of Justice (conviction reversed by the Supreme Court)

Audit or matter: Enron Corporation (document destruction)

What the regulator found

The Supreme Court said Arthur Andersen was indicted in March 2002 on one count of violating 18 U.S.C. 1512(b)(2)(A) and (B) after it instructed its employees to destroy documents pursuant to its document retention policy, that the jury returned a guilty verdict and that the Fifth Circuit affirmed. On 31 May 2005 the Court unanimously reversed and remanded, finding that "the jury instructions at issue simply failed to convey the requisite consciousness of wrongdoing." Accounting Today reported in November 2005 that prosecutors told a federal court it was not in the best "interests of justice" to pursue the firm further.^1,3

Status: Conviction reversed, charges not pursued further^1,2,3

Sources

1. Supreme Court of the United States, via Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School, Arthur Andersen LLP v. United States, 544 U.S. 696 (2005), opinion of the Court (31 May 2005)
2. Supreme Court of the United States, via Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School, Arthur Andersen LLP v. United States, 544 U.S. 696 (2005), syllabus (31 May 2005)
3. Accounting Today, Justice Department Won't Pursue Andersen (28 November 2005)