sharon watkins, thank you so much for joining us. we were happy to have you. well, listen, john, i will come on any time. thank you so much for being an advocate for most of the really great. thank you so much. last year, according to the big for professional services from deloitte whistleblower complaints in the financial services sector were up 35 percent over the previous year. one of the things that to avoid found was that the popular image of a corporate whistle blower is that of an eccentric loaner. the truth, however, is more prosaic. whistle blowers are usually loyal employees. they're passionate about high standards, about ethics, and about the rule of law. they only go outside the chain of command when nobody takes them seriously. they are not defiant troublemakers. they're disappointed believers, and we need more of them. i'm john kerry. ok thanks for watching the whistle blowers until next time. 2 2 2 the in 1884, the german empire began its colonial invasion internet media. from the very start. berlin encourage the white calling is to settle in so

the sharon watkins is the kind of person that we all should aspire to be like. she's educated, honest and successful. she graduated from the university of texas for been honors degree in business administration and then earned a masters degree and accounting from the school. and soon after that, she became a certified public accountant. sharon went on to work for the professional services firm, arthur anderson as an auditor. and then she spent several years on wall street managing a portfolio of commodity backed financial assets. she joined the energy giant enron in 1993 and became it's vice president of corporate development there in 2000. and one, sharon realized that annual ins, financial numbers just didn't add up. she investigated and then warrant chief executive officer kenneth lay about the accounting irregularities. that she found in the company's financial statements, but late as it turned out was up to his neck in the scandal. 5 years later he was convicted on 10 counts of securities fraud, although he died of a heart attack before he could be imprison

sharon watkins for her part assumed a place in the pen.

i'm john kerry onto welcome to the whistle blowers the . 2 sharon watkins is the kind of person that we all should aspire to be like. she's educated, honest and successful. she graduated from the university of texas for been honors degree and business administration and then earned a master's degree and accounting from the school. and soon after that, she became a certified public accountant. sharon went on to work for the professional services firm, arthur anderson as an auditor. and then she spent several years on wall street managing a portfolio of commodity backed financial assets. she joined the energy giant enron in 1993 and became it's vice president of corporate development there in 2001 share and realized that and once financial numbers just didn't add up, she investigated and then warrant chief executive officer kenneth lay about the accounting irregularities that she found in the company's financial statements, but late as it turned out was up to his neck in the scandal. 5 years later he was convicted on 10 counts of securities fraud, although he died of a heart attack bef

sharon watkins is now a highly sought after speaker on whistle blowing and business ethics. and we're happy to welcome her to the show. sharon, it's good to have you. thanks for being with us. well, thank you john and thank you for all the flattering comments. i think it's nice to be on your program. they're all true and thanks for joining us. there are so many things that i want to ask you about, but let's begin with the fundamentals. for those of our viewers who are not familiar with your work, you are a senior executive at enron, one of the biggest energy commodities and services companies in the world. you found accounting irregularities, and you reported those regularities to then ceo kenley. tell us about that and about what happened next. well, i had it stumbled across these, this horrible accounting fraud in the summer of 2001. and my 1st reaction was to desktop my resume and, and try to leave the company. because i do feel as if it might be fruitless to speak to the ceo of the time jeff schema. but in august, mid august, he surprisingly clipped. he had been chief ope

sharon watkins for her part assumed a place in the pantheon of the most important whistle blowers in modern american history. she found evidence of illegality, and she reported it. she testified on capitol hill. she wrote a book about her experiences, and she was named time magazines person of the year in 2002, along with 2 other whistle blowers sharing. watkins is now a highly sought after speaker on whistle blowing and business ethics. and we're happy to welcome her to the show. sharon, it's good to have you. thanks for being with us as well. thank you, john, and thank you for all the flattering comments and it's nice to be on your program. they're all true and thanks for joining us. there are so many things that i want to ask you about, but let's begin with the fundamentals. for those of our viewers who are not familiar with your work, you are a senior executive at enron, one of the biggest energy commodities and services companies in the world. you found accounting irregularities, and you reported those regularities to then ceo kinley. tell us about that and about what happened n