Business/Financial Desk; SECTC
Guilty Verdicts Give Executives A New Focus: Risk of Prison
By ALEX BERENSON
March 8, 2004
The New York Times
Late Edition - Final To one of the jurors in the Martha Stewart trial, the guilty verdict reached on Friday ''sends a message to bigwigs in corporations,'' said Chappell Hartridge of the Bronx. ''They have to abide by the law. No one is above the law.'' In the last two years, prosecutors and juries have repeatedly sent corporate America the message that white-collar crime is a crime after all, starting with the prosecution of the accounting firm Arthur Andersen, which resulted in its conviction and demise in 2002. Since then, dozens of executives at Enron, Tyco International and other big public companies have been charged with fraud, obstruction of justice and other crimes. Many have pleaded guilty; others are being tried or awaiting trial. Now the prosecutions may have reached a critical mass that will make executives think twice before lying to shareholders and federal officials, experts on white-collar crime say. No one expects corporate executives to suddenly give up their pay packages and devote their lives to good works. But they may back away from the aggressive accounting practices and tax shelters that became common even among blue-chip companies in the last two decades, as well as some of their more egregious perks. | |
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