ASSIGNMENT
This assignment is to be completed in groups of three and comprises twenty per-cent of the marks for this course. There are three questions (approx. 2000 words in total)
Assessment Criteria:
Student work will generally be assessed in terms of the following criteria:
1. Effectiveness of communication – i.e. readability, legibility, grammar, spelling, neatness, completeness and presentation will be a minimum threshold requirement for all written work submitted for assessment. Work that is illegible or incomprehensible and does not meet the minimum requirement will be awarded a fail grade.
2. Demonstrated understanding - This will be evidenced by the student's ability to be dialectical in the discussion of contentious issues.
3. Evidence of research - This will be evidenced by the references made to the statutes, auditing standards, books, journal articles and inclusion of a bibliography.
Note:
1. All written work must conform with the General Guide for the Presentation of Academic Work.
2. For all written work students must ensure that they submit their own original work. Any act of plagiarism will be severely penalised.
Plagiarism is presenting someone else work as your own and is a serious offence with serious consequences. As set out in the Regulation 6.1.1, students who are caught plagiarising will, for a first offence, be given a zero mark for that task. A second offence will result in a failing grade for the course(s) involved and any subsequent offence will be referred to the Student Discipline Committee. Student must be aware of the Regulation 6.1.1 Student Plagiarism.
Students must:
• fully reference the source(s) of all material, even if you have re-expressed the ideas, facts or descriptions;
• acknowledge all direct quotations; and
• not submit work that has been researched and written by another person.

Question 1. (6.5 marks)
a) Choose any five of the aforementioned scandals and complete the dot point questions.
b) Discuss the consequences (if any) concerning the auditors.
1. Waste Management Scandal (1998)
Company: Houston-based publicly traded waste management company
• What happened:
• Main players:
• How they did it:
• How they got caught:
• Penalties:
• Auditors:
2. Enron Scandal (2001)
Company: Houston-based commodities, energy and service corporation
• What happened:
• Main players:
• How they did it:
• How they got caught:
• Penalties:
• Auditors:
3. WorldCom Scandal (2002)
Company: Telecommunications company;
• What happened:
• Main player:
• How he did it:
• How he got caught:
• Penalties:
• Auditors:
4. Tyco Scandal (2002)
Company: New Jersey-based blue-chip Swiss security systems.
• What happened:
• Main players:
• How they did it:
• How they got caught:
• Penalties:
• Auditors:
5. HealthSouth Scandal (2003)
Company: Largest publicly traded health care company in the U.S.
• What happened:
• Main player:
• How he did it:
• How he got caught:
• Penalties:
• Auditors:
6. Freddie Mac (2003)
Company: Federally backed mortgage-financing giant.
• What happened:
• Main players:
• How they did it:
• How they got caught:
• Penalties:
• Auditors:
7. American International Group (AIG) Scandal (2005)
Company: Multinational insurance corporation.
• What happened:
• Main player.
• How he did it:
• How he got caught:
• Penalties:
• Auditors:
8. Lehman Brothers Scandal (2008)
Company: Global financial services firm.
• What happened:
• Main players:
• How they did it:
• How they got caught:
• Penalties:
• Auditors:
9. Bernie Madoff Scandal (2008)
Company: Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC was a Wall Street investment firm founded by Madoff.
• What happened:
• Main players:
• How they did it:
• How they got caught:
• Penalties:
• Auditors:
10. Satyam Scandal (2009)
Company: Indian IT services and back-office accounting firm.
• What happened:
• Main player:
• How he did it:
• How he got caught:
• Penalties:
• Auditors:

Question 2. (6.5 marks)

Discuss what the auditor audits in the annual report and their responsibilities relating to other information in documents containing or accompanying the audited financial statements
Question 3. (7 marks)
Look at the following youtube video. Explain what should have stopped this auditor from going over to the dark side.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcjfELbROIg
He Stopped Auditing Today - A Parody About an Auditor ...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcjfELbROIg
A parody about an auditor gone bad based on George Jones - -He Stopped Loving Her Today.- Lyrics below.
He said, -I'll audit 'til I die.-
They told him, -Someday you'll retire.-
As the years went slowly by,
He slowly went depraved.
He had a sign up on his wall
That said, -Trust but Verify.-
Every principle he'd learned,
He secretly denied.
He had some plans up in his head
'Bout what he was gonna do.
All the books were in the red,
When he became controller at the private school.
I went to see him just today.
Aw, but I didn't see no tears.
All dressed up in jailhouse gray,
The creep had stole them blind for years!
Chorus:
He stopped auditing today!
They locked the door and tossed the key!
I'm so glad he's put away.
So, he's not auditing today.
You know, I went to see him one last time.
To talk some sense if I could.
The question running through my mind.
Why he chose the dark side over good?!!