CASE 8.2
KASET THAI SUGAR COMPANY
Synopsis
Many public accountants, particularly recent graduates, relish the possibility of an “overseas”
assignment. An international assignment may provide an opportunity to see and experience another
part of the world, potentially further one’s career, or simply provide a much needed “break” from the
“same old, same old.” However, as the practices of the major international accounting firms have
expanded into third-world countries, certain international assignments available to the employees of
those firms have posed some degree of risk to their personal safety.
Michael Wansley, a senior partner with Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu who was based in that firm’s
Melbourne, Australia, practice office, was a well-known debt restructuring specialist. In the late
1990s, the services of such specialists was in great demand in Thailand. After a decade of
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Kaset Thai Sugar Company—Key Facts
1. A financial crisis in the late 1990s within Thailand caused many large Thai companies to default
on their outstanding loans, including Kaset Thai Sugar Company.
3. Among the major suppliers of debt restructuring services are the international accounting firms.
4. Michael Wansley, a senior partner with Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and a well-known debt
5. In early 1999, Wansley discovered that Kaset Thai Sugar had transferred approximately $150
7. Six individuals eventually faced criminal charges for Wansley’s murder, including the sugar
mill owner who was a member of one of Thailand’s most wealthy and powerful families.
9. Ex post, Deloitte was criticized for not providing adequate security for Wansley who had
expressed concern regarding his and his subordinates’ personal safety.
Case 8.2 Kaset Thai Sugar Company
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Instructional Objectives
1. To increase students’ awareness of the personal risks that public accountants may face on
certain professional services engagements.
Suggestions for Use
Because this case focuses on the murder of a public accountant, some instructors may believe it
is inappropriate for their courses. Another caveat: if you have one or more Thai students in your
course, you may want to avoid this case since such students might find the case embarrassing and/or
unpleasant to discuss. To initiate discussion of this case, consider requiring one or more groups of
students to research and provide brief oral reports of any new developments regarding the case.
Suggested Solutions to Case Questions
1. I am not aware of the specific policies, if any, that the major international accounting firms may
have with respect to this particular issue. Since many of your students will likely have at least
initiated the job interview process, consider asking them to raise this issue with the recruitment
personnel of those firms.
Listed next are specific actions or decisions that an individual could take in responding to such a
situation:
—Determine whether the firm has a specific policy regarding such situations. If there is such a
policy, determine how it is applied by the firm. To obtain this latter information, it may be
390 Case 8.2 Kaset Thai Sugar Company
2. You may have heard the cliché, “Someone has to cross the Delaware,” in reference to General
Washington’s daring and risky decision to cross the Delaware River in the middle of a bitterly cold
Christmas night. It is probably unreasonable to compare the dilemma faced by General Washington
with the decision by an accountant of whether or not to accept a risky (personally speaking) audit
engagement; nevertheless, it is true that such engagements must be completed by someone. At a
minimum, it seems that accounting firms have a moral obligation to take all reasonable and
necessary steps to protect individuals that they have asked to accept assignments to engagements that