Florida to Consider Sanctions Against Andersen

Florida state Senator, Walter G. "Skip" Campbell, chairman of the state Senate's regulated industries committee, has announced that he will ask the Florida Board of Accountancy to investigate Enron's auditor, Big Five firm Andersen, and also Big Five firm Deloitte & Touche, the firm that provided the peer review of Andersen's audit practices.

Last week, the committee interviewed Martha Willis, director of the Florida Board of Accountancy, and asked that the Board provide Senator Campbell with the paperwork necessary to file a complaint against Andersen and Deloitte & Touche.

"Hopefully you won't find anything," Senator Campbell said.

The Florida Board of Accountancy took no action against Andersen last year when the firm settled [1] with Florida-based Sunbeam Corporation. Andersen paid the bankrupt Sunbeam's shareholders $110 million in a lawsuit over work performed for the appliance company.

Connecticut, New York, and Illinois are among other states that have announced plans to investigate Andersen following Andersen's admitted document destruction relating to the firm's audit of Enron.