...Wor9 - 1 04 - 0 71 R EV: JU LY 2 6 , 2 00 4 RO BERT S. KAPLAN D A VI D KIR O N Accounting Fraud at WorldCom WorldCom could not have failed as a result of the actions of a limited number of individuals. Rather, there was a broad breakdown of the system of internal controls, corporate governance and individual responsibility, all of which worked together to create a culture in which few persons took responsibility until it was too late . — Richard Thornburgh, former U.S. attorney general1 On July 21, 2002, WorldCom Group, a telecommunications company with more than $30 billion in revenues, $104 billion in assets, and 60,000 employees, filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. Between 1999 and 2002, WorldCom had overstated its pretax income by at least $7 billion; a deliberate miscalculation that was, at the time, the largest in history. The company subsequently wrote down about $82 billion (more than 75%) of its reported assets.2 WorldCom’s stock, once valued at $180 billion, became nearly worthless. Seventeen thousand employees lost their jobs; many left the company with worthless retirement accounts. The company’s bankruptcy also jeopardized service to WorldCom’s 20 million retail customers and on government contracts affecting 80 million Social Security beneficiaries, air traffic control for the Federal Aviation Association, network management for the Department of Defense and long-distance services for both houses of Congress and the...
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...Verizon Communications, Inc. was originally started as Bell Atlantic. Bell Atlantic merged with another regional Bell company, NYNEX but remained under the name Bell Atlantic, but later in 2000 they merged with phone company GTE and took on the name Verizon, which is Latin for truth and horizon. Later in 2005, Verizon acquired MCI Inc. also known as WorldCom. Verizon gained large scale business customers, long haul carriers, control of most of the east coast and it became the beginning of a market advantage when they officially incorporated MCI and became Verizon Business. Verizon Business became the largest telecommunications company in the world in terms of assets and profits (Forbes 2007). The transition from land wire-based to wireless communications has been a major change driver for the whole telephone market, including Verizon. As of August 2011, the profitability of the company's "wireline" business had slipped substantially below that of its mobile division and continued to degrade, a situation reflected in and used to directly support downward revisions to "wireline" worker compensation, potentially impacting on the order of 45,000 workers in the United States (Eltman 2011). The company offers several services. These include fixed-line voice, fixed-line data, fixed-line television, wireless voice and data and directory operations. As of 2011, Verizon Communications is the largest wireless carrier in the United States and in 2012 became the largest fixed-lined provider...
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...Mark Willis BUS 508 – Contemporary Bus November 15, 2013 Determine the most important five skills that a forensic accountant needs to possess and evaluate the need for each skill. Be sure to include discussion regarding the relationship between the skill and its application to business operations. As the annual price tag for fraud at American business soars to nearly $1 trillion, the demand for Certified Public Accountants that provide forensic accounting services has increased exponentially- a spike that appears in no danger of waning over the next several years. (Carlino, 2010) With the demand for forensic accounting services increasing, it is very beneficial for prospective employers and employees to know what skills are needed to fulfill the duties of this very important occupation in today’s society. “Forensic accounting encompasses collecting, analyzing, and evaluating evidence, and the interpreting and communicating the findings in courts, boardrooms or other venues.” (Carlino, 2010) There are numerous skills needed for these positions but five skills are vital in becoming am effective forensic accountant. The most essential skill needed to become an effective forensic accountant is included in the description of the position. One has to be very analytical in their profession in order to become efficient and effective. Being a problem solver in any business is a trait that no business wants lacking from their employees, but in the field of finance and...
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...WorldCom the Rise and Fall WorldCom began in 1983 during the breakup of AT&T, which enabled competitors to start selling long distance telephone service to individuals and business customers. A group of investors from Hattiesburg, Mississippi decided to start a communications company called Long Distance Discount Services (LDDS). The company lead by Bill Fields leased a local Bell System Wide-Area Telecommunications Service (WATS) line and resold time on the line to businesses. The sophisticated long distance technology was designed to handle a high volume of calls. The lines were leased at a fixed rate so the idea was that the more customers a company could obtain the lower cost for the company. Fields was able to sign 200 customers, however during this time the telecommunications industry was very competitive and when Bell starting raising the fixed lease rate on the lines LDDS was in trouble. By the end of the first quarter 1985 the company was losing approximately $25,000 a month. When Fields attempt to sell off the company was unsuccessful, one of the initial investors by the name of Bernard Ebbers agreed to become president and chief executive officer for LDDS, who at this time was 1.5 million dollars in debt. Ebbers, a Canadian, was a successful business owner in the hotel business. He came to the United States on a basketball scholarship to Mississippi College. Upon graduation Ebbers saw an opportunity in the motel industry and was able to borrow enough...
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...of WorldCom not only broke but with a personal net worth as a negative nine-digit number.2 No palace in a gated community, no stable of racehorses or multi-million dollar yacht to show for the telecommunications giant he created. Only debts and red ink--results some consider inevitable given his unflagging enthusiasm and entrepreneurial flair. There is no question that he did some pretty bad stuff, but he really wasn't like the corporate villains of his day: Andy Fastow of Enron, Dennis Koslowski of Tyco, or Gary Winnick of Global Crossing.3 Personally, Bernie is a hard guy not to like. In 1998 when Bernie was in the midst of acquiring the telecommunications firm MCI, Reverend Jesse Jackson, speaking at an all-black college near WorldCom's Mississippi headquarters, asked how Ebbers could afford $35 billion for MCI but hadn't donated funds to local black students. Businessman LeRoy Walker Jr., was in the audience at Jackson's speech, and afterwards set him straight. Ebbers had given over $1 million plus loads of information technology to that black college. "Bernie Ebbers," Walker reportedly told Jackson, "is my mentor."4 Rev. Jackson was won over, but who wouldn't be by this erstwhile milkman and bar bouncer who serves meals to the homeless at Frank's Famous Biscuits in downtown Jackson, Mississippi, and wears jeans, cowboy boots, and a funky...
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...in the telecommunications industry through the successful completion of 65 acquisitions. Between 1991 and 1997, WorldCom spent almost $60 billion in the acquisition of many of these companies and accumulated $41 billion in debt. Two of these acquisitions were particularly significant. The MFS Communications acquisition enabled WorldCom to obtain UUNet, a major supplier of Internet services to business, and MCI Communications gave WorldCom one of the largest providers of business and consumer telephone service. By 1997, WorldCom's stock had risen from pennies per share to over $60 a share. Through what appeared to be a prescient and successful business strategy at the height of the Internet boom, WorldCom became a darling of Wall Street. In the heady days of the technology bubble Wall Street took notice of WorldCom and its then visionary CEO, Bernie Ebbers (Moberg, Romar, 2003). Acquisition after acquisition led to started to warrant a suspicion into the dealings of the WorldCom organization. The company hit rock bottom when it declared bankruptcy after its merger with MCI. This is where the proverbial ball of yarn starts to come unraveled for the company. The company manipulated the account books and reported false gains and increases to continue to make it appear as a hot item on the stock market. In actuality the...
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...The accounting fraud at WorldCom was the result of corporate supremacy, individual liability, and an ultimate collapse of their system of in-house controls that can all be attributed to greed, manipulation and a lack of accountability for top executives. Bernie Ebbers, at the helm of it all, lacked focus, strategic direction, and led WorldCom with a consistently declining moral compass. It is thought that the ethical turn down of WorldCom’s top executives began with the U.S. Justice Department’s refusal to allow WorldCom’s 1999 attempted acquisition of Sprint. WorldCom senior management noted that large scale mergers no longer constituted feasible means of expansion and the company began to shift into an abyss of monumental proportions. Operating major departments in various locations, WorldCom had no real continuity among its corporate offices. Its attorneys, upon whom they should have relied on for principled and legal counsel, were essentially without influence. Policies were not written and employees were dared to challenge their superiors. An environment of fear was established and maintained by the dictatorship of senior management. From a financial standpoint, Ebbers and Scott Sullivan, the CFO, allowed salaries and bonuses above budgeted allowances and mismanaged compensation guidelines. Furthermore, WorldCom struggled to maintain its year 2000, first quarter 42% E/R ratio amidst revenue and pricing pressure brought on by a deteriorating industry and increased...
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...Assignment on WorldCom Overview: WorldCom Inc. origins can be traced back to 1983 when it was formed with the breakup of AT&T and it enabled small, regional companies gain access to AT&T’s long-distance phone lines at deeply discounted rates. LLDS (Long Distance Discount Services) provided services to those regions where well-established companies, such as MCI and Sprint, had very little presence. At an early stage of the company, Bernard J. Ebbers, was given the charge to run the show. He firmly believed in inorganic growth and focused company’s strategy on acquisitions. Acquiring small long-distance companies with limited geographic service areas and consolidating third-tier long distance careers with large market shares delivered economies of scale, which were critical in the crowded long-distance reselling market. As shown in Exibit-1 of the case the company made numerous acquisitions, which helped them grow not only across the America but also expand internationally in Europe and Latin America. Throughout the 1990s the telecommunications industry grew, giving WorldCom a greater market share. By 1998, WorldCom had become a full-service telecommunications company, able to provide services to virtually any size of business with a full complement of telecom services. Its integrated service packages and Internet strengths gave them substantial competitive advantage. After its unsuccessful attempt to acquire Sprint in 1999, due to regulatory hurdles, WorldCom began drifting...
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...Worldcom Fraud Investigation Use the Fraud Triangle and Fraud Scale to critically analyse the actions of Bernie Ebbers and Scott Sullivan during the WorldCom saga/ What does your analysis suggest? Dennis Greer’s fraud triangle is a key framework in analysing the ‘factors that cause someone to commit occupational fraud’ (ACFE-The Fraud Triangle, Association of Certified Fraud, Examiners Available from:http://www.acfe.com/fraud-triangle.aspx [January 2014]). The three elements that make up the model are perceived pressure, perceived opportunity and rationalisation. In reference to the events of WorldCom, which has been labelled to date, ‘one of the biggest accounting scandals in history’ (CNN Money- WorldCom’s Financial Bomb, Available from:http://money.cnn.com/2002/06/25/news/worldcom/. [June 2002]) the initial pressures that were the driving force behind the actions of CEO, Bernie Ebbers and CFO Scott Sullivan are quite vast. Firstly Ebbers, was faced with the managerial strain of financial pressure on management due to the decline in the economic environment and the high expectations of Wall Street. As a result, he was aware that the key to growth was in acquisition and mergers, which required an illusion of a solid investment portfolio and therefore ‘a heavy dependence on the performance of WorldCom shares’ (Forbes- Bernie Ebbers Guilty, Available from: http:// www.forbes.com/2005/03/15/cx_da_0315ebbersguilty). In addition, Ebbers was fuelled...
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...2007, the investors were defrauded by omitted facts or misstatements which led to downgrading of 83% of the RMBS in the ABACUS portfolio and 17 percent were on negative watch. (SEC Charges Goldman Sachs with Fraud concerning structuring and marketing of CDO Tied to Subprime Mortgages in 2010. Goldman established to pay $550 million in a settlement (Duggan, T. 2013). The vice president of Goldman was found liable for fraud too. The WorldCom scandal is another well-known unethical scandal. WorldCom submitted the largest bankruptcy filing in United States’ history after admitting improperly accounting for more than $3.8 billion dollars in expenses. The company used acquisitions to spurt large growth. Two of WorldCom’s acquisitions included MCI Communications and MFS Communications (UUNet). This caused WorldCom to appear more favorable on Wall Street, and many banks, brokers, and investors gave strong buy recommendations. This was not unethical; however, what investors and others were to uncover in the coming years, was. Chief Executive Officer Bernie Ebbers led the company’s stock to increase from pennies, to more than $60 per share. Where the unethical...
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...WorldCom The Mississippi-based telecommunications company was started in the early 1980’s as a small “mom and pop” company to become the 25th largest U.S. Company by 2002. The company grew primarily through an aggressive merger and acquisition growth strategy. In 1997 WorldCom had emerged within the telecom industry and caught the eye of many on Wall Street when it issued a bid to acquire the much larger and better-known company, MCI. While WorldCom’s growth skyrocketed throughout the 1990s, the telecom market was saturated by 2001 and WorldCom’s earnings began to fall. WorldCom executives began to feel tremendous pressure to maintain their stellar track record of financial performance and to meet Wall Street’s expectations. This leads to one of the largest accounting fraud in US history between 1999 and 2002. The driving factor for his fraud was the business strategy of WorldCom's CEO, Bernie Ebbers. Ebbers was clearly focused on achieving impressive growth through acquisitions. However, once WorldCom acquired the new companies, it was not easy to properly integrate the systems and policies together. Due to the fast paced acquisitions and management negligence the accounting systems at WorldCom were incompetent to keep up with integration effectively and ultimately paves a way for weak internal control environment. After tips were sent to Cynthia Cooper (Vice President of Internal Audit), she spotted accounting irregularities that the corporate office accounting team had...
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...Final Paper: Case Study of WorldCom Financial Statement Fraud Introduction This paper will discuss the financial statement fraud committed by WorldCom by examining what led up to the fraud, who committed it and why, and the impact it caused on various stakeholders and the economy. WorldCom applied aggressive and undisclosed accounting tactics to provide financial statements that reflected a $10 billion profit for the years 2000 and 2001, rather than the actual combined loss of $73.7 billion that occurred (Romar, 2006). Opportunity, pressure, and rationalization were all present in this severe example of financial statement fraud which had a devastating impact on stakeholders globally. Basis for Understanding Financial Statement Fraud Prior to taking a deep dive into this specific example, it is important to first understand what constitutes financial statement fraud. Financial statement fraud can be defined as “deliberate misstatements or omissions of amounts or disclosures of financial statements to deceive financial statement users, particularly investors and creditors” (Wells, 2011, p. 299). Financial statement frauds can be broken down into five distinct categories: fictitious revenues, improper asset valuations, concealed liabilities and expenses, timing differences, and improper disclosures” (Wells, 2011, p. 292). The History of WorldCom “WorldCom began in Mississippi as a small provider of long distance telephone services” (Lyke, 2002). However, due to deregulation...
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...WorldCom took the telecom industry by storm when it began a frenzy of acquisitions in the 1990s. The low margins that the industry was accustomed to weren't enough for Bernie Ebbers, CEO of WorldCom. From 1995 until 2000, WorldCom purchased over sixty other telecom firms. In 1997 it bought MCI for $37 billion. WorldCom moved into Internet and data communications, handling 50 percent of all United States Internet traffic and 50 percent of all e-mails worldwide. By 2001, WorldCom owned one-third of all data cables in the United States. In addition, they were the second-largest long distance carrier in 1998 and 2002. How the Fraud Happened So what happened? In 1999, revenue growth slowed and the stock price began falling. WorldCom's expenses as a percentage of its total revenue increased because the growth rate of its earnings dropped. This also meant WorldCom's earnings might not meet Wall Street analysts' expectations. In an effort to increase revenue, WorldCom reduced the amount of money it held in reserve (to cover liabilities for the companies it had acquired) by $2.8 billion and moved this money into the revenue line of its financial statements. That wasn't enough to boost the earnings that Ebbers wanted. In 2000, WorldCom began classifying operating expenses as long-term capital investments. Hiding these expenses in this way gave them another $3.85 billion. These newly classified assets were expenses that WorldCom paid to lease phone network lines from other companies...
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...WorldCom Tarrell King University of Phoenix Week 1 Assignment August 18, 2009 Between 1991 and 1997, Bernie Ebbers, the CEO of WorldCom, spent $60 billion by successfully completing 65 acquisitions. The two most prominent acquisitions were the MFS Communications acquisition that enabled WorldCom to obtain UUNET. UUNET was a major supplier of Internet services to business. The second major acquisition was MCI Communications because they became WorldCom’s largest provider of business and consumer telephone service. From 1983 to 2002 WorldCom developed from a humble long distance telephone company to the second-largest long distance telephone company in the United States and one of the largest companies handling worldwide Internet data traffic, and finished as the largest bankruptcy of an organization in American history (Moberg, 2008). The purpose of WorldCom was to provide mission-critical communication services for tens of thousands of businesses internationally. WorldCom owned and operated 75 data centers on five continents. The organization owned and operated a global Internet Protocol backbone that provided connectivity in more than 2,600 cities and in more than 100 countries. Before the bankruptcy of the organization, WorldCom carried more international voice traffic than any other company and carried a significant amount of the world’s Internet traffic. Bernie Ebbers and the managers of his company were supposed oversee the activities of WorldCom and ensure...
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...Running head: Socio-Geographic Factors. Socio-Geographic Factors University of Phoenix Socio-Geographic Factors Companies face many factors that affect the ways management can operate the business. In the United States companies are becoming global and facing challenges of attracting and retaining employees. This paper entails Verizon Communications’ policies and procedures that the company uses to address new and old issues that management faces. In today’s society many people come from diverse backgrounds and companies have to learn to work with the differences. Verizon Communications is a leader in providing broadband and other wire line and wireless communication innovations to business, government, mass market and wholesale customers. The company’s wireless operates the country’s most reliable wireless network. Verizon serves nearly 71 million customers nationwide. The company’s Wire line operations consist of Verizon Business, which produces innovative and flawless business solutions to customers around the world, and Verizon Telecom, which brings customers the benefits of congregate communications, information and entertainment services over the nation's most highly developed fiber-optic network. A Dow 30 company, Verizon employs a diverse workforce of more than 228,000 and last year originated working revenues of $93.5 billion (Verizon Communications, p.20). Class and Work Values Class is described as the process of classifying people based...
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