Notable Accounting Scandals
| Company | Year | Audit Firm | Country | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lockheed Corporation | 1976 | United States | ||
| Nugan Hand Bank | 1980 | Australia | ||
| ZZZZ Best | 1986 | United States | Ponzi scheme run by Barry Minkow | |
| Barlow Clowes | 1988 | United Kingdom | Gilts management service. £110 million missing | |
| MiniScribe | 1989 | United States | ||
| Polly Peck | 1990 | United Kingdom | ||
| Bank of Credit and Commerce International | 1991 | United Kingdom | ||
| Phar-Mor | 1992 | Coopers & Lybrand | United States | mail fraud, wire fraud, bank fraud, and transportation of funds obtained by theft or fraud |
| Informix Corporation | 1996 | Ernst & Young | United States | |
| Sybase | 1997 | Ernst & Young | United States | |
| Cendant | 1998 | Ernst & Young | United States | |
| Waste Management, Inc. | 1999 | Arthur Andersen | United States | Financial mistatements |
| MicroStrategy | 2000 | PricewaterhouseCoopers | United States | Michael Saylor |
| Unify Corporation | 2000 | Deloitte & Touche | United States | |
| Computer Associates | 2000 | KPMG | United States | Sanjay Kumar |
| Lernout & Hauspie | 2000 | KPMG | Belgium | Fictitious transactions in Korea and improper accounting methodologies elsewhere |
| Xerox | 2000 | KPMG | United States | Falsifying financial results |
| One.Tel | 2001 | Ernst & Young | Australia | |
| Enron | 2001 | Arthur Andersen | United States | Jeffrey Skilling, Kenneth Lay, Andrew Fastow |
| Swissair | 2001 | McKinsey & Company | Switzerland | |
| Adelphia | 2002 | Deloitte & Touche | United States | John Rigas |
| AOL | 2002 | Ernst & Young | United States | Inflated sales |
| Bristol-Myers Squibb | 2002 | PricewaterhouseCoopers | United States | Inflated revenues |
| CMS Energy | 2002 | Arthur Andersen | United States | Round trip trades |
| Duke Energy | 2002 | Deloitte & Touche | United States | Round trip trades |
| Dynegy | 2002 | Arthur Andersen | United States | Round trip trades |
| El Paso Corporation | 2002 | Deloitte & Touche | United States | Round trip trades |
| Freddie Mac | 2002 | PricewaterhouseCoopers | United States | Understated earnings |
| Global Crossing | 2002 | Arthur Andersen | Bermuda | Network capacity swaps to inflate revenues |
| Halliburton | 2002 | Arthur Andersen | United States | Improper booking of cost overruns |
| Homestore.com | 2002 | PricewaterhouseCoopers | United States | Improper booking of sales |
| ImClone Systems | 2002 | KPMG | United States | Samuel D. Waksal |
| Kmart | 2002 | PricewaterhouseCoopers | United States | Misleading accounting practices |
| Merck & Co. | 2002 | Pricewaterhouse Coopers | United States | Recorded co-payments that were not collected |
| Merrill Lynch | 2002 | Deloitte & Touche | United States | Conflict of interest |
| Mirant | 2002 | KPMG | United States | Overstated assets and liabilities |
| Nicor | 2002 | Arthur Andersen | United States | Overstated assets, understated liabilities |
| Peregrine Systems | 2002 | KPMG | United States | Overstated sales |
| Qwest Communications | 2002 | 1999, 2000, 2001 Arthur Andersen 2002 October KPMG | United States | Inflated revenues |
| Reliant Energy | 2002 | Deloitte & Touche | United States | Round trip trades |
| Sunbeam | 2002 | Arthur Andersen | United States | |
| Tyco International | 2002 | PricewaterhouseCoopers | Bermuda | Improper accounting, Dennis Kozlowski |
| WorldCom | 2002 | Arthur Andersen | United States | Overstated cash flows, Bernard Ebbers |
| Royal Ahold | 2003 | Deloitte & Touche | United States | Inflating promotional allowances |
| Parmalat | 2003 | Grant Thornton SpA | Italy | Falsified accounting documents, Calisto Tanzi |
| HealthSouth Corporation | 2003 | Ernst & Young | United States | Richard M. Scrushy |
| Nortel | 2003 | Deloitte & Touche | Canada | Distributed ill advised corporate bonuses to top 43 managers |
| Chiquita Brands International | 2004 | Ernst & Young | United States | Illegal payments |
| AIG | 2004 | PricewaterhouseCoopers | United States | Accounting of structured financial deals |
| Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC | 2008 | Friehling & Horowitz | United States | Massive Ponzi scheme. |
| Anglo Irish Bank | 2008 | Ernst & Young | Ireland | Anglo Irish Bank hidden loans controversy |
| Satyam Computer Services | 2009 | PricewaterhouseCoopers | India | Falsified accounts |
| Lehman Brothers | 2010 | Ernst & Young | United States | Failure to disclose Repo 105 transactions to investors |
| Sino-Forest Corporation | 2011 | Ernst & Young | Canada-China | |
| Olympus Corporation | 2011 | Ernst & Young | Japan | tobashi using acquisitions |
| Autonomy Corporation | 2012 | Deloitte & Touche | United States | Subsidiary of HP. |
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