Now it's World-Con
It's a lesson most people learn by age 6: Feigning ignorance doesn't always work. But it's the defense former WorldCom CEO Bernard Ebbers used against charges that he orchestrated the company's $11 billion accounting fraud, and it backfired. A jury last week found Ebbers, 63, guilty of all nine counts, ranging from conspiracy to securities fraud. He faces prison, though he plans to appeal.
Ebbers gambled that his word would offset the testimony of former finance chief Scott Sullivan. The government's top witness, Sullivan insisted that Ebbers oversaw the fraud and was motivated to keep WorldCom stock up mainly for personal financial reasons. Ebbers said he had no idea the books were being manipulated and in fact knew very little about finance. Ebbers made WorldCom a telecommunications empire through mergers and acquisitions, including the $37 billion merger with MCI in 1998, before it collapsed in July 2002. Now Ebbers faces a June 13 sentencing.
This story appears in the March 28, 2005 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.
advertisement
