WASHINGTON - Arthur Andersen, the onetime accounting giant effectively put out of business after being convicted in connection with the Enron financial fraud, took its appeal to the US Supreme Court Wednesday.
The Chicago-based accounting firm was shut down after its 2002 conviction on criminal obstruction of justice charges for the destruction of documents for its client, Enron, as a regulatory probe was underway.
A criminal conviction of a corporation is unusual but not unprecedented.
Evidence in the trial showed that Andersen employees shredded thousands of documents and deleted numerous e-mails last year, just as federal investigators were closing in on irregularities involving its client Enron.
Earlier this week, Andersen agreed to pay 65 million dollars to settle a separate civil suit for its role in misleading investors in WorldCom, another prominent Andersen client that went bankrupt.
04/27/2005 17:47 GMT