Is the accountant innocent or sacrifice?

Have your read, "Enron's top accountant gets 5 years"?

Let's assume what had happened. The CEO or director wanted the accountant to cook the account book. If the accountant refused, what would be the outcome? He/she would be fired by any reason, of course.

If it was a fraud that CEO or director wanted to steal money from the corporation, it is simple to know that the beginning would not be so written, something like transferring money for some confidential deals. Could the accountant refuse to follow the order?

So, it was told that such transfer would not be recovered and if case was discovered, everyone involved including the accountant could not stay away from prosecution. Up to such situation, the only way for all, including the innocent accountant had to take more money for any purpose either just to enjoy as much as time allowed or to hide away before being caught.

If you were the accountant of Enron at that time, what other choice you had? Resignation might be the best way out. But remember that before the fraud was discovered, that CEO would not give any good reference to you. Instead, he might put you in hell and no one would hire you. In other words, you were unlucky and sentenced to professional death.

That is the tragedy that we are facing. That is why I have mentioned that accountants are lack of any training to foresee such situation. Worst of all, no one would care for someone who spent years studying hard for a profession and ended without any wrong doing.