A multinational company, HK, Inc., directed that its employees in the procurement department negotiate with materials suppliers, such that these suppliers were to make a payment at the start of the contract to HK that represented a multi-year discount on the supplies purchased by HK. HK's Chief Financial Officer then pressured accounting staff to recognize these initial payments as revenue in the fiscal year they were collected, thereby increasing the gross profit of the company. In addition, the CFO pressured his accounting staff to also represent on the financial statements that the cost of goods purchased under these supplier contracts was lower than the invoices received from suppliers, on the grounds that the initial payments received were an offset to the cost of goods. Over several years, this led to misstatements on financial statements suggesting greater profitability for the corporation.

State the accounting ethics implications for an accountant licensed in Maryland, using COMAR 09.24.01.06.