Enron Corporation was a big global American based energy firm that employed an estimated 22,000 staff. It was claimed to be among the “crème de la crème” of the world’s leading natural gas, electricity, paper pulp and communications companies. Financial records claimed Enron netted $100 billion revenue in 2000 and was named “America’s Most Innovative Company” for six recurring years by Fortune magazine. Until its rather saddening collapse, Enron was known as a super power in its industry. As 2001 ended, it was reported that the financial condition of this company was due to a systematic, creatively planned and institutionalized accounting fraud now popularly nicknames the “Enron Scandal”

In late 2001, Enron Corporation filed for bankruptcy in the New York and chose Weil, Gotshal and Manges as counsel. In November three years later, the company was involved in one of the most complicated bankruptcy incidents in the history of U.S. The company later sold out to Prisma Energy International on September 2006. The company’s directors were subjected to numerous lawsuits. The situation worsened as the directors attempted to escape sanction by paying off certain key individuals with large sums of money.

The Enron collapse was caused by rampant cases of mismanagement that failed the corporation as a trading vehicle. Cases of massive corruption coming to light dealt the company a big blow.This included collusion with Andersens, one of the leading accountancy firms in the world and which led to the latter’s collapse globally. It is ironic to think that Andersens had one of the largest and most respected teams of forensic accountants and fraud investigators!

Mainly the culture of Enron hammered in the last nail to its coffin. There was conflict of interest by the two roles played by Andersens as a consultant and auditor, this may have in one way or another led the company on in its path to destruction. Lack of interest in company business by the directors also saw to it that the last of breaths were taken by what some describe as a “dying giant”. The directors never paid attention to the off-book financial entities that were created by Enron as a means of propping up what was later discovered to be a rapidly weakening balance sheet. This corroded to the stamina of the company which eventually was caught along with its advisers Andersens attempting to shred thousands of documents evidencing this.