cooked the books
Committed accounting fraud
Cooked the books is the past tense of cook the books, meaning to falsify financial records to hide theft, evade taxes, or deceive investors.
The cooking metaphor suggests altering raw ingredients—here, the real numbers—into something more palatable: The accountant cooked the books for years before auditors caught on.
- corporate ethicsMoral principles in commerce
- whistleblowingExposing hidden wrongdoing internally
- forensic accountingExamining records for fraud
- smoking gunIrrefutable proof of wrongdoing
- embezzlementFraudulent taking of entrusted assets
internal audits · tax evasion · white collar crime · creative accounting · money laundering · legal liability · professional misconduct · fiduciary duty · doctored · balance sheet · paper trail · audit trails · financial fraud · Enron · Bernie Madoff · corporate scandal · transparency · risk assessment