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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former WorldCom Inc. finance chief Scott Sullivan began his long-awaited testimony on Monday by implicating ex-CEO Bernard Ebbers in an $11 billion accounting scandal that drove the telecommunications company into the largest U.S. bankruptcy. "I falsified the financial statements of the company," Sullivan admitted under questioning from prosecutor William Johnson, who then asked the government's star witness to name anyone else involved in the crime. Sullivan named five, including Ebbers. He was the first witness during the trial to directly link the one-time chief executive to the accounting fraud he stands accused of orchestrating. Sullivan also...

NEW YORK (AFX) - Ten former outside directors for the former WorldCom Inc have agreed in principle to pay 54 mln usd, including 18 mln out of their own pockets, to settle their portion of a class-action lawsuit brought by bondholders and shareholders in the wake of the firm's accounting scandal, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The remaining 36 mln usd will be paid by the directors' liability insurers, the sources were quoted as saying. Under the accord, the 18 mln usd to be paid by the former directors represents about 20 pct of...

Bob Dole Slams Kerry By Andrew L. Jaffee, August 23, 2004 Home   Search   Forum   Terms Nothing has really changed for Democratic hopeful John Kerry, except that real war veterans, like Bob Dole, are questioning the “superficial wounds” and resulting “medals” he received during four (4) months service in Vietnam. Kerry is still flailing, trying to cover up a career punctuated by extreme left-wing politics and flip-flopping by talking to voters about his military service. He squandered his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention by trying to convince Americans that his tour of duty in Vietnam will make him a great commander...

Ken Lay of Enron Indicted and Arrested By Andrew L. Jaffee, July 8, 2004 Home   Search   Forum   Terms Enron’s ex-Chairman of the Board has been indicted and arrested on charges connected with his former company’s implosion in 2001. Corporate executives at Enron engaged in all sorts of financial manipulations to pump up the company’s stock price. They created complex “partnerships” to hide company debt from shareholders. In 1998, Enron’s share price was at about $20. By 2000, it hit $90. By 2001, the company’s stock was worthless. Enron’s collapse wiped out billions in shareholder value and employee pensions. Democratic Presidential hopeful John...

<p>McLEAN, Va. (AP) — Bankrupt telecommunications company MCI said Friday it will cut 4,000 jobs — more than 7% of its workforce — and closing three call centers because of cost-cutting pressures and fallout from the national "do not call" registry. The company had announced in January that it was expecting to reduce overall costs by 15% to 20%, but did not mention specifically that jobs would be cut.</p>

McLEAN, Va. - Bankrupt telecommunications company MCI said Friday it is cutting 4,000 jobs — more than 7 percent of its work force — and closing three call centers because of cost-cutting pressures and fallout from the national Do Not Call registry. The company had announced in January that it was expecting to reduce overall costs by 15 percent to 20 percent, but did not mention specifically that jobs would be cut. The centers being closed are located in Denver, Phoenix and Niles, Ohio. Jobs are also being reduced at MCI facilities in Alpharetta, Ga., Colorado Springs, Colo. and Springfield,...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - MCI (Other OTC:WCOEQ.PK - News) said Friday its financial restatement for 2001 and 2000 resulted in a net reduction of $74.4 billion to its previously reported pre-tax results. The restatement included revenues, expenses and earnings and the write-downs of assets and adjustments to liabilities, the bankrupt telecommunications company said. MCI, whose legal name is WorldCom, said that consolidated revenues were $37.7 billion in 2001 and $39.3 billion in 2000. It had a net loss of $15.6 billion in 2001 and $48.9 billion in 2000, including the restatement adjustments, it said in a regulatory filing.

NEW YORK (AFP) - Bernie Ebbers, former chief executive of telecom giant WorldCom, was expected to be charged with fraud and conspiracy in connection with the biggest bankruptcy in US history, media reported. Citing Justice Department (news - web sites) sources, New York's NewsChannel 4 said US Attorney General John Ashcroft (news - web sites) was expected to announce the charges here later Tuesday. Ashcroft scheduled a news conference for 1:00 pm (1800 GMT) in New York on a criminal matter, according to a Justice Department statement. WorldCom, the number-two US long-distance phone carrier, declared bankruptcy in July 2002. The...

kausfiles Kerry Hypocrisy Watch He was on their side! By Mickey KausUpdated Saturday, Jan. 24, 2004, at 3:49 PM PT If none of Kerry's opponents makes a good negative ad against him based on the information in this Jonathan Cohn article, then the Iowans will have won! ... On the stump this week, Kerry portentously attacked special interests and complained that retirement accounts have been "decimated" by the "scandals of Enron and Worldcom," but Cohn makes it clear that an overbroad law that Kerry supported limiting the ability of investors to sue over fraudulent accounting practices contributed to the Enron...

<p>His drubbing in Iowa won't change one thing: Howard Dean set the tone of the Democratic campaign on an issue even beyond Iraq, and that's insisting George Bush is uniquely "beholden to corporate interests." Here is Mr. Dean blaming the president for the landmark business scandals of our time: "Our business culture is a disaster in this country. And this president's largely responsible for it . . . He just winks and nods."</p>

<p>MCI, formerly known as WorldCom Inc., named five new members to its board of directors Friday and said it expects to appoint three more before it emerges from Chapter 11 bankruptcy-court protection, which it hopes to do later this year.</p>

OKLAHOMA CITY - The Oklahoma attorney general Wednesday filed the first criminal charges against former WorldCom Inc. chief Bernard Ebbers, part of a wider complaint that also named the telecommunications company now known as MCI and other one-time top executives. The complaint accuses Ebbers, the other executives and the company of violating state securities laws by giving false information to investors in 2000. WorldCom collapsed into the nation's largest bankruptcy last year amid an accounting scandal that has grown to $11 billion. "It is rare that we name a company in a criminal complaint, but in this case it is...

WorldCom -- soon to be MCI -- received its blueprint for emerging from Chapter 11 today, and, boy, is it a doozy. The plan from court-appointed corporate monitor Richard Breeden contains no less than 78 "recommendations" designed to keep the company from repeating the past abuses under Bernie Ebbers that led to the most massive accounting fraud in history. Here are the highlights: A separation of the chairman and CEO positions. No stock option grants for at least five years; any thereafter must be expensed. Dividends initially targeted at 25% of net income. At least one new director to be...

August 21, 2003 -- Embattled telecom giant MCI will lay off about 2,400 workers in the next three months as the company's battle to stay alive gets tougher each day. The first round of layoffs will be announced on Aug. 29, with subsequent layoffs announced in September and October, sources familiar with the situation told The Post. Although the company declined to comment on any workforce reduction, MCI did say its restructuring continues. "As we continue to restructure our operations to better position the company going forward, including improved integration and automating certain functions, we expect to continue to add...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - MCI said on Tuesday its auditor found weaknesses in the company's internal controls that could lead to additional restatements of financial results as the No. 2 U.S. long-distance telephone carrier tries to emerge from bankruptcy. In a filing with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission , MCI, whose legal name is WorldCom Inc., also said it was withdrawing all of its previous financial forecasts. "KPMG has identified a substantial number of material weaknesses in the company's internal controls," MCI said in the filing. "Although the company has begun work to address these deficiencies, a significant amount...

<p>August 13, 2003 -- Former WorldCom Inc. Chief Financial Officer Scott Sullivan, who's accused of leading a multibillion-dollar accounting fraud, says he should get no more than 12 1/2 years in prison if convicted, about half what's called for under U.S. guidelines.</p>

<p>AT&T, WorldCom's larger rival, made the claims in a filing with the US Bankruptcy Court overseeing WorldCom's Chapter 11 reorganization. WorldCom said it carried calls appropriately. The new allegations add to claims by AT&T last week that WorldCom improperly routed State Department and Postal Service traffic through Canada. The calls were put on AT&T's network allegedly to avoid local-line fees that were unwittingly paid by AT&T. WorldCom's rivals are seeking to derail the company's effort to emerge from the biggest bankruptcy this year.</p>

And then there were two. Sprint, the third-largest long-distance phone company, may join MCI/WorldCom - in being suspended from winning federal contracts. Government investigators recommended considering that Sprint be barred from federal work for overbilling practices. The move is "unprecedented and totally without merit," Sprint said in a statement. Sprint, which gets more than $600 million annually from the U.S., agreed in June to pay $5.2 million to settle Justice Department charges it defrauded federal clients. Sprint didn't admit to wrongdoing. The General Services Administration that month initiated similar proceedings against MCI, which last week was suspended from federal contracts...

US bans WorldCom from new govt contracts Thursday July 31, 7:58 pm ET By Jeremy Pelofsky and Jessica Hall WASHINGTON/PHILADELPHIA, July 31 (Reuters) - WorldCom Inc. suffered another blow on Thursday after a U.S. agency said the bankrupt telephone company could no longer compete for new U.S. government contracts after finding it lacked proper internal controls and business ethics. The General Services Administration said it would review whether the temporary ban on WorldCom, which is embroiled in an $11 billion accounting scandal, should be extended for up to three years. Meanwhile, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of...

July 27, 2003 MCI Faces Federal Fraud Inquiry on Fees for Long-Distance CallsBy STEPHEN LABATON ASHINGTON, July 26 — Federal prosecutors have opened an investigation in the United States and Canada into accusations that MCI, the nation's second-largest long-distance carrier, defrauded other telephone companies of at least hundreds of millions of dollars over nearly a decade, people involved in the inquiry said. The central element of MCI's scheme, people involved in the inquiry said, consisted of disguising long-distance calls as local calls to avoid paying special access tariffs to local carriers across the country. Those tariffs are the largest...