Enron whistleblower: Financial fraud reporting still too hard

As seen by the recent devastations related to the Boeing scandal, today’s whistleblowers are still facing immense pressure, tribulation, and opposition for coming forward—and in extreme cases this pressure leads to truly tragic consequences for individuals.

In 2001, I became a whistleblower, warning the CEO of Enron of suspicious accounting activity. In doing so, I exposed one of the largest corporate frauds in history. I didn’t expect a gold medal—I was just doing my job—but ended up jeopardizing not only my job, but my career, livelihood, and reputation. In the fallout of my decision to come forward, I was accused of trying to destroy Enron, called a troublemaker, and stripped of all work assignments. Despite doing the right thing, I later learned that company executives had tried to fire me after I first alerted them of the issues. I was subsequently shunned by my peers and labeled as a “snitch.”  

Whistleblower intimidation

When you look up the term whistleblower in the dictionary, synonyms include betrayer, snitch, rat, and tattletale—all negatives to describe someone who did the right but hard thing. And sadly, this is an accurate representation of how whistleblowers are not only perceived but treated. from Medius, a fraud detection software company I’ve partnered with, shows roughly a third (32%) of finance professionals have seen firsthand whistleblowers being called names to their face or behind their backs due to their reports. Name-calling is just one example of the bullying and backlash that whistleblowers face, and one of many reasons finance professionals are scared to report internal fraud. 

Everybody knows that the right thing is often the hardest thing to do, and it is almost never easy or straightforward. Whistleblowing involves a power dynamic favoring the organization over the individual, compounding the problem and making it even harder for employees to speak up. This matter is made even worse by the performative cultures within modern organizations that protect whistleblowers in theory, but not once a whistleblower comes forward to actually report.

From my own experience, and now having spoken to…