Additionally, Weston Smith's wife Susan Jones-Smith, was also a finance executive at the company, a further example of the incestuous relationships that characterized the financial leadership of HealthSouth. A failure of the company meant the failure in the financial future of the family of one's friends and spouses.

Another warning sign should have been the nature of the company's assets. The firm was able to conceal its financial shenanigans for so long from outside auditors because of its multiple and constant stream of acquisitions of a variety of inpatient and outpatient facilities. The nature of the acquisitions should have been a clear warning sign to be wary of HealthSouth's spiraling profits. The volume of transactions meant there was great difficulty in keeping track of the 'real' value of the different operations, despite the company's alleged revenues on paper.

Also, the existence of such superficial nods to ethical practices, such as...
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