Accounting for Anguish Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Accounting for Anguish - Essay Example When fraudulent activity and misappropriation occurs in a company such what was occurring at WorldCom and an accountant discovers the scheme the only option for the accountant is to become a whistleblower. A whistleblower can be defined as a person that reveals any wrong doings or malpractices that are taking place within an organization (Bainbridge). When Kim Emigh acted as a whistleblower in the WorldCom scandal she revealed to the Security and Exchange Commission and other governmental agencies that WorldCom was attempting to change labor that was supposed to be part of capital projects into an expense in order to misguide the government and lower profits to pay less taxes. The effect of the directive by WorldCom would have turned $35 million of capitalized items into expenses (Reaves). The courage of Kim Emigh was instrumental in bringing the WorldCom executives to justice and to uncover one of the biggest financial frauds in U.S.