We are pleased to announce an undergraduate research program relating to McKesson & Robbins (1939). The expected outcome of this program would be an analysis of this real world case, using primary source documents to the fullest extent possible, which would be serialized as a column over 3-4 issues in the Journal of Forensic Accounting.
As described by Harvey Cardwell in Principles of Audit Surveillance, McKesson & Robbins (1939) involved "an ex-convict [who] acquired control of a large established drug company and, in a maze of fraudulent manipulations including payments for huge inventories that did not exist, stored in warehouses that did not exist, manipulated the published earnings and balance sheets of the drug company - and more or less incidentally, it appears, to such manipulations of financial statements, stole nearly $3,000,000."
We would expect that the analysis might include descriptions of the:
1) actual events;
2) regulatory response;
3) professional response; and,
4) lessons learned that are relevant today.
It is likely that a proper analysis may be too ambitious for even a motivated group of accounting majors in any single course over any one semester. Further, it is the commitment of the Publisher that to enjoy publication, this analysis must be the very best ever done within the limited number of pages provided. To accomplish this it is also likely that a high degree of faculty intervention will be required - and our current thinking is that the faculty would obtain primary attribution recognition (although all undergraduate contributors would be specifically identified). Faculty members are encouraged to call the Publisher to discuss all considerations relating to this program.
JOURNAL OF FORENSIC ACCOUNTING
