Final answer:
The crime of altering an organization's accounting information is embezzlement, a type of corporate crime that can have severe financial and reputational impacts. Accounting scandals led to the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in 2002, aimed at protecting investors and improving transparency and integrity in financial reporting.
Step-by-step explanation:
The white-collar crime that involves altering an organization's accounting information is known as embezzlement. This type of corporate crime is when someone in a position of trust within a company manipulates the organization's financial records. Common methods of embezzlement include misreporting expenses, inflating revenue, or hiding debts. These fraudulent actions are often sophisticated and can go undetected for a long time, until eventually leading to significant financial and reputational damage to the organization and its stakeholders.
Many accounting scandals, such as those involving Enron, Tyco International, and WorldCom, highlighted the disastrous consequences of embezzlement and led to the creation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in 2002. The act aims to protect investors by improving the accuracy and reliability of corporate disclosures and by combating corporate and accounting fraud. It has set new standards for all U.S. public company boards, management, and public accounting firms and has played a crucial role in enhancing the transparency and integrity of corporate financial reporting.