Tuesday, February 08, 2005

WorldCom Ex-CFO, Key to Ebbers Trial, Begins Testimony

Scott Sullivan, the former chief financial officer of WorldCom and the star prosecution witness in the trial of WorldCom's former CEO, Bernard Ebbers, began testifying yesterday. The fireworks — the heart of the government's case — are still to come.

Rarely has one witness meant so much to the prosecution in a complex white-collar trial.

Mr. Ebbers, 63, is charged with multiple counts of securities fraud and related crimes for his alleged part in WorldCom's $11 billion accounting scandal, which pushed the former telecom giant into bankruptcy in 2002. WorldCom emerged from bankruptcy last April under its former name, MCI, after shedding billions in debt.

Halfway through the trial before Southern District Judge Barbara Jones, there seems to be little doubt that WorldCom was the scene of massive understating of operating expenses and inflating of revenues to match growing investor expectations as the telecommunications market was in a precipitous decline.

The question before jurors is: Who was behind the misdeeds?

WorldCom Ex-CFO, Key to Ebbers Trial, Begins Testimony

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