From Wikipedia - there were also some hints of data erasing - particularly around damaging emails written back and forth.
<i>Main article: Enron scandal
After a series of revelations involving irregular accounting procedures bordering on fraud, perpetrated throughout the 1990s, involving Enron and its accounting firm Arthur Andersen, Enron stood at the verge of undergoing the largest bankruptcy in history by mid-November 2001. Daniel Scotto an All American top team analyst, number one ranked utility analyst for an unprecedented nine consecutive years published and stated in August 2001 that Enron was likely to implode. Scotto was the first analyst to recommend the sale of all Enron securities, including its common stock. He was also the first to divulge publicly the magnitude of Enron's financial leverage and lack of corporate ethics, and to question the reliability of Enron's reported earnings results, despite those results being audited by Arthur Andersen. A white knight rescue attempt by a similar, smaller energy company, Dynegy, was not viable. Enron filed for Bankruptcy on December 2, 2001.
As the scandal was revealed, Enron shares dropped from over US$90.00 to just pennies. As Enron had been considered a blue chip stock, this was an unprecedented and disastrous event in the financial world. Enron's plunge occurred after it was revealed that much of its profits and revenue were the result of deals with special purpose entities (limited partnerships which it controlled). The result was that many of Enron's debts and the losses that it suffered were not reported in its financial statements.
In addition, the scandal caused the dissolution of Arthur Andersen, which at the time was one of the world's top accounting firms.</i>
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