In October 2001, as the Enron investigation began, a lawyer at the accounting firm Arthur Andersen told employees to follow the firm’s “documentation and retention policy.” “Extensive shredding of documents and deletion of e-mail messages followed,” until November 9, the day after the SEC’s subpoena.
A jury found Andersen guilty of obstruction of justice on June 15, 2002. The firm surrendered its CPA license on August 31 and stopped operating in the United States. In 2005 the Supreme Court unanimously overturned the conviction because the jury instructions were too vague.