THE attempt by accountant Arthur Andersen to educate the world about business ethics has hit a minor hiccup, with one of the people heavily involved in its Ethics in Business video getting four years in prison last week.
It's tough luck for the accountants, particularly as no staff members were implicated in any way.
We were alerted to this by Professor Bob Tricker, something of an ethics man himself over at Hong Kong University's Business School, who was in turn warned by an academic in the US.
In its Ethics in Business video, Andersen conducts an in-depth interview with Stew Leonard, chief executive officer of Stew Leonard's Dairy in the US.
His flamboyant style won him the title ''the Walt Disney of Grocers'', but a local newspaper has since re-labelled him ''a genius of criminal deception'' after details leaked out about America's largest computer-driven tax fraud, with US$17 million beingskimmed into the pockets of Leonard and three of his colleagues over 13 years.
''Due to Leonard's extensive involvement in the video, it is not possible to salvage the tape through editing,'' Arthur Andersen said.
''How do I get hold of a copy of the video?'' Professor Bob asked.