U.S. Audit Enforcement Chief Departs Oversight Board

The first enforcement chief to police the U.S. audit industry since the Enron Corp. and Worldcom Inc. accounting scandals is leaving his post.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board announced May 29 that Claudius Modesti is leaving after serving 14 years as director of enforcement and investigations.

Modesti joined the fledgling audit overseer soon after it began operating and led the effort to build the board’s enforcement arm from the ground up. The 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act created the PCAOB as part of efforts to tighten controls on the audit industry.

His departure marks the fourth senior staff member to leave ...