document.write('Tuesday, May 31, 2005 Posted: 1805 GMT (0205 HKT)'); "I'm kind of in a position of a case of first impression, which is terrifying for a district judge," she said, aware that her ruling could set a precedent and be subject to future legal challenges. W A S H I N G T O N, March 14, 2002 -- The U.S. Justice Department today announced the indictment of embattled accounting firm Arthur Andersen on one count of obstruction of justice relating to the collapse of former energy giant Enron Corp. A federal grand jury actually filed the indictment on March 7, but it was unsealed today. The Justice Department also alleges Andersen employees deleted relevant computer files. It was done at a time when Andersen executives acknowledged in memos they were aware of a probable investigation into Enron's accounting practices. Andersen itself is now nearly defunct, with only about 200 employees left, mostly handling pending legal matters. thwart federal regulators investigating Enron. if ( host.indexOf("edition.") Andersen's basic line of defense is that the shredding was conducted in the company's Houston office under the supervision of David Duncan, the firm's lead partner in charge of Enron's audits, and was not ordered by executives at Andersen headquarters in Chicago. Andersen handled a large part of the financial accounting for Enron. In addition, the destruction of the documents would have helped to mask Enron's financial difficulties and the financial advice given by Andersen. host = host.toLowerCase(); } In another letter released Wednesday night by Andersen, the firm defends itself and strongly criticizes the Justice Department's line of inquiry into the Enron matter. ABCNEWS' Pierre Thomas, Linda Douglass and Betsy Stark contributed to this report. The opinion came unusually quickly after oral arguments in the case were held April 27. "The firm sought to undermine our justice system by destroying evidence," said Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson at an afternoon news conference, saying the firm has intentionally disposed of "tons" of evidence after a government inquiry began last October. Judge Harmon agonised over the decision for more than a day as she sought to clarify a point of law that mystified even seasoned attorneys and other experts on American jurisprudence. Enron, after filing the largest-ever U.S. bankruptcy on Dec. 2, fired Andersen on Jan. 17. This Dutch case concerned the VAT liability of certain ‘back office’ services supplied by Arthur Andersen to an insurance company. On Wednesday, two firms — Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and Ernst & Young — announced that they were not interested in buying Andersen. The ruling threw the case back to lower federal courts to sort out, but it gave no indication whether Arthur Andersen would be granted a new trial. Those actions could have conceivably helped Enron remain viable as a paying customer to Andersen. Arthur Andersen Indicted in Enron Case. A jury in the United States has found accountancy firm Arthur Andersen guilty of obstructing justice by shredding documents relating to the failed energy giant Enron. During the last decade of the partnership’s life, auditors at several regional offices failed to detect, ignored, or approved accounting frauds for large clients paying lucrative consulting fees, including Enron Corp. and WorldCom Inc. Indeed, 'persuading' a person 'to withhold' testimony from a government proceeding, or government official is not inherently malign," Rehnquist wrote. He added: "This company did not commit a crime.". View Arthur Andersen Case (00000002).pdf from BUSINESS 2060 at Xavier University of Louisiana. The verdict could be the death knell for the 89-year old company, once one of the world's top five accountants. He said it would file an appeal but had to wait until after the sentencing date - 11 October - to do so. Saturday, 15 June, 2002, 22:09 GMT 23:09 UK, "This could be the final nail in Andersen's coffin", "There are profound concerns about the quality of US corporate earnings", ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------. … He said that he had reneged on the agreement after much "soul searching". Experts say a guilty plea by Andersen in the case could bar the company from carrying out audits for companies filing with the SEC. The company released a vigorous response to the announcement this afternoon, calling the Justice Department's actions "without precedent and an extraordinary abuse of prosecutorial discretion," and "a gross abuse of government power.". The various legal standards of "criminal intent" were at the heart of Andersen's appeal. The 12-member jury had heard nearly five weeks of With around 2,300 publicly traded companies in the United States using Arthur Andersen as their accountant — about one-fifth of the total — the collapse of Andersen could create large-scale problems in the U.S. capital markets.