The 2001 collapse of the energy giantEnron Corp. and the subsequent downfall of its accounting firm,Arthur Andersen, sent shockwaves through corporate America. Notonly did the infamous scandal involve the largest bankruptcy inhistory at the time, but it also centered on a massive auditfailure and the destruction of documents in an attempt to cover upcorporate transgressions.

As a response to Enron and other corporate and accountingscandals, Congress created the now well-known Sarbanes-Oxley Act(SOX), which seeks to prevent future similar egregious misconductand increases the penalties against companies and auditors that tryto defraud shareholders or federal investigators.

Although SOX became law a decade ago, corporate lawyers arebecoming increasingly concerned with one of its particularly potentprovisions, 18 USC Section 1519, which states that “whoeverknowingly alters, destroys, mutilates, conceals, covers up,falsifies, or makes a false entry in any record, document, ortangible object with the intent to impede, obstruct, or influencethe investigation or proper administration of any matter within thejurisdiction of any department or agency of the United States … orin relation to or contemplation of any such matter or case, shallbe fined … imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both.”