Corporate Fraud Lives!

Despite its best efforts, the Bush Administration's Justice Department has not been able to cut down of corporate fraud.

Via MSNBC:

The wave of high-profile corporate fraud cases involving companies like Enron, World Com and Tyco International was followed by criminal charges and new regulations that were designed to put an end to corporate fraud. But despite hundreds of millions spent on improved audit controls and several high-profile convictions, occupational fraud is alive and well in the post-Enron era. From the mailroom to the board room, people are still busy stealing from their employers and shareholders.

“We're not seeing a tremendous reduction in the amount of fraud out there,” said Bruce Dubinsky, a forensic accountant based in Bethesda, Md. [...]

While new laws have helped expose fraud, and tougher criminal penalties are being handed out to those convicted, fraudsters continue find ways around them. U.S. losses from fraud rose to an estimated $660 million in 2004 — up from $600 million in 2002 and $400 million in 1996, according to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, a trade group of accountants who are often called in when fraud is suspected or discovered.

“When you look at the underlying cause of fraud, the underlying drivers are still there,” said Dubinsky.

Worldwide losses to fraud amounted to at least $2 billion last year — a 50 percent increase from 2003, according to a PriceWaterhouseCoopers report.

“Globally, the trend is toward an increase in economic crime, not a decrease,” the firm found in its 2005 Global Economic Crime Study.

And just for reference, here's what the White House has to say about 'corporate responsibility:

The Administration continues to pursue an aggressive agenda to fight corporate fraud and abuse:

-Exposing and punishing acts of corruption
-Holding corporate officers and directors accountable
-Protecting small investors, pension holders and workers
-Moving corporate accounting out of the shadows
-Developing a stronger, more independent corporate audit system
-Providing better information to investors.

-Since the exposure of the corporate fraud scandals, the President has taken decisive action to combat corporate fraud and punish corporate wrongdoers [...]