Arthur Andersen Audit Senior Exits Client Site to Discover Firm had Been Gone For 18 Years

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Much like what happened in the South Pacific after WWII when lone Japanese soldiers were found defending small islands 20 years after the war had ended, John Moga, audit senior, left his client site in Seattle to find that the firm had been shuttered for 18 years. “I was staffed on the Weyerhauser account right after completing my initial onboarding training. I went right into contract audit services where I performed internal audit investigations across Weyerhaeuser’s global operations,” stated Moga. “When I started on the account in 2000, my partner told me that if I kept my head down focused on my work, I’d make partner in about 15 years. Looking back, it seems like the joke was on me,” said Moga. “In 2002 I was so busy helping on a mailroom productivity study that I just didn’t have time to watch the news. How was I supposed to know that the firm had gone under?”  In retrospect, Moga feels that there were some telltale signs that the firm no longer existed. “My email status reports to my manager started being kicked back, but I assumed that she was just busy. My clients started laughing at my outdated laptop and gave me one of theirs.”  Moga said the toughest part was having to tell his parents what had really happened. “For years I kept telling my parents that work was going fine and that I was most likely still on the partner track. That seemed to impress them and they asked no further questions.”  How did Moga discover the demise of the firm? “When COVID-19 hit, my client told me that all back-office operations were going virtual and that all vendors were going to have to work from their firms’ offices. I was shocked to find that our Seattle office space was now an online fashion retail startup.”  Looking back, Moga realizes it was really all his fault.  “I was so busy that I never noticed that I had stopped receiving direct deposits to my bank account.  I will never let that happen again”.

Fact Checker: The real John Moga led the Pacific Northwest practice for Arthur Andersen. He helped countless people (including me) and was a major regional philanthropist. He was loved and is missed by all.