of motels in Mississippi then transformed a small discount phone business he started into the telecommunications giant WorldCom. After he resigned he was convicted of one of the largest accounting scandals in the United States that had happened while he was the CEO. As a defense Ebbers tried to say that he was unknowing and don't know about technology or finance and accounting. The jury did not buy into his theory and convicted him. . Should have Bernard Ebbers gone to jail? Background
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S. KAPLAN DAVID KIRON 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
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Accounting scandals CEO Bernard Ebbers became very wealthy from the rising price of his holdings in WorldCom common stock. However, in the year 2000, the telecommunications industry entered a downturn and WorldCom’s aggressive growth strategy suffered a serious setback when it was forced by the US Justice Department to abandon its proposed merger with Sprint in mid 2000. By that time, WorldCom’s stock was declining and Ebbers came under increasing pressure from banks to cover margin calls on his
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Coulter, 2012, p. 165). In the case of Worldcom, it is clear that the organizational culture was heavily impaired and nearly non-existent. The company did not have a formal statement of values or ethical rules it expected its employees to abide by. This is the underlying issue that eventually led to the demise and bankruptcy of Worldcom. As a leader, you are expected to lead by example and set your organization up for long term success. When CEO of Worldcom, Bernard Ebbers, was told about an internal
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THE NATION’S NEWSPAPER BS2003-01a Collegiate Case Study Enron law firm called accounting practices 'creative' By Greg Farrell www.usatodaycollege.com Accounting fraud Part I: The problems “Creative accounting” is not a new technique, but it can certainly be a costly one. Businesses feel the pressure to appear profitable in order to attract investors and resources, but deceptive or fraudulent accounting practices often lead to drastic consequences. Are these so-called creative practices
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amounts that WorldCom paid other companies to be able to use their communication networks for their customers and it included access fees and transport charges for messages. The line costs are an expense and instead of reporting them as an expense at the time, they chose to hold off on paying them and adding them in as an expense so that it would look as though WorldCom was earning more than they really were. The first solution should have been to relook at the financial statements of WorldCom from an
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RUNNING: Demise of Enron Corporation® and WorldCom® Demise of Enron Corporation® and WorldCom® Your Name October 31st, 2012 FIN/486 Instructor Enron Corporation and WorldCom In the last decade, two powerful American companies, Enron Corporation and WorldCom, have become the models of accounting corporate fraud. The Enron Corporation was founded in 1985 by Kenneth Law in Omaha, Nebraska. The company later moved its operation to Houston Texas when InterNorth and Houston Natural Gas merged
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WorldCom By Dennis Moberg (Santa Clara University) and Edward Romar (University of Massachusetts-Boston) 2002 saw an unprecedented number of corporate scandals: Enron, Tyco, Global Crossing. In many ways, WorldCom is just another case of failed corporate governance, accounting abuses, and outright greed. But none of these other companies had senior executives as colorful and likable as Bernie Ebbers. A Canadian by birth, the 6 foot, 3 inch former basketball coach and Sunday School teacher emerged
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WorldCom where being talked by lamplight and bundling as Enron is a lot of in topic of accounting fraud. However, the volume of information that can be obtained in Japanese is far less compared with Enron. The fact relevance makes the description of the case a base. WorldCom is a huge telecommunication company that exists in the United States before. The company that Mr. Bernard Ebbers founded in 1983 accomplishes the rapid growth repeating M&A with tremendous force. Long-distance telecom carrier
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AVOIDING INVESTMENTS IN FRAUDULENT COMPANIES: THE WORLDCOM FRAUD Introduction The purpose of this report is to investigate and discuss the accounting fraud that occurred at WorldCom in order to recommend improved strategies to Berkshire Hathaway’s management for avoiding investments in companies with fraudulent financials. Accounting fraud is a crime committed by high level employees at an organization to manipulate the organization’s financial statements and intentionally disguise company
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