Andersen’s not getting away with a fine and a slap on the wrist this time.

See:

Andersen Misread Depths of the Government’s Anger,
by Kurt Eichenwald for the New York Times.

Last week, Andersen became the first major accounting firm ever charged with a felony. The firm, and its lawyers, misread the depths of the government’s anger with Andersen in the wake of its flawed audits of other major clients. Earnings restatements by those clients have caused their stock prices to tumble, costing investors tens, if not hundreds, of millions of dollars.

In such cases, Andersen paid a fine and moved on. This time, law enforcement officials wanted to crack down hard.

The prosecutors’ zeal for going after Enron appears to be almost matched by their fury at Andersen. In their view, Andersen has minimized the significance of its transgressions