Accountability Simulacra: Highlights about Fraud Cases from South and North America

Abstract

Cases of corporate fraud involving financial instruments rely on simulacra of accountability. This study, based on grounded research, looked at cases that went unnoticed for years, causing billion-dollar losses to investors. The goal was to demonstrate how they bypassed internal controls, corporate governance, and all regulatory apparatus by utilizing substantive and symbolic resources at the organizational level. An extensive analysis enabled the identification of a common mode of operation, which is described here organized by objectives. By different resources, the modus operandi includes getting people involvement, turning fraud and culpabilities diffuse and routinizing it and, creating positive sense making about business. This paper also registers challenges for accountability improvement as sensemaking is out of check lists and models.