Short Paper 3
One of the most significant incidents of fraudulent financial statement reporting in U.S. history is the fraud committed by the telecommunications giant WorldCom. The company improperly booked more than $3 billion as capital expenditures. WorldCom did not account for expenses when it incurred them but instead hid the expenses by pushing them into the future, giving the appearance of spending less and therefore making more profit.
Perform research using University resources about the accounting fraud committed by WorldCom. Your paper should include discussion and analysis of the following points:
Explanation of the key elements of the accounting fraud committed by WorldCom executives, including motives and how it was detected
Discussion of the role of the external auditors related to WorldCom accounting fraud
Your opinion on whether the United States needs more laws and regulations to prevent managers from committing such accounting fraud
Discussion of the role of internal controls in this instance of fraud
Discussion on how this accounting fraud affected the accounting and auditing professions and society
Your paper should be between 1300 and 1900 words in length (approximately 5 to 7 pages). It should be well organized and should display proper grammar and punctuation. Be sure to properly document any outside sources you have used to support your statements. [MO 5.2, MO 5.3, MO 5.4]
