At a conference this past year, I was able to listen to the story of a former accountant that had a real-life experience with securities fraud related to a transaction her company completed back in the early 2000's. My goal for the week is to give you a chance to read the details in a summary format (provided below) and then answer one key question, which is simply, why did this happen? The employee was in her late 20's, working as an accountant/financier for a company involved in the energy business (much like Enron, but it was not Enron). To make a very long story short, the employee ended up becoming one of a few scapegoats on a transaction that involved the sale of an investment that was backed by what could be best described as worthless collateral. It means the sale was fraudulent, by government standards. Now when I say scapegoat, what I mean is she was in a no win position. 1) She was not high enough in the company to stop the sale. 2) The timing of the situation pre-dated what we now know as "whistle-blower protections". 3) Her boss essentially turned a blind eye to her statements of concern. In fact he separated himself entirely from the transaction, probably knowing that the end result was not going to be good for the company or any of the employees involved. 4) The sale was for millions of dollars, so like many people, the employee rationalized that it would be alright, as long as everyone involved supported the sale. In the end, she was approached by the FBI and ultimately forced to accept a plea deal that cost her the ability to continue working in the finance business, surrender her CPA license and serve approximately 30 days in jail. At least one other person involved did not accept the plea, and he served upwards of five years in jail. With this limited information, do you feel sorry for the employee? Is this a situation that you feel could happen to anyone placed into the circumstances? Why not just "quit"? Would you quit? What if I said you were making over $150,000 per year, would that change your answer? Would you feel comfortable that your boss "had your back" (in this case he didn't, as he removed himself from the deal just before it went public, and ultimately avoided any prosecution)? Ultimately, the question I want you to most consider....why did this happen?