1. Suppose you are an accountant for pre-fraud WorldCom. You have just been instructed by the CFO to alter specific company accounts in order to boost the company's numbers before fourth- quarter disclosures. You know the actions are unethical, but you fear that refusing to comply with executive orders may result in punishment and pos- sible termination of your job. What would you do?
2. Although it usually doesn't involve physically steal- ing money, financial statement fraud is commonly considered the most expensive type of fraud. Why is this true?
3. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 has, in many ways, changed the role of financial statement auditors. In addition to ensuring financial statement accuracy, independent auditors are now required to review a company's internal controls and report their assess- ments in the company's annual report. How might these new policies help prevent financial statement fraud from occurring?