SUBJECT: Accounting fraud at WorldCom Problem Statement WorldCom penetrated the largest accounting fraud in U.S history by overstating its tax income between 1999 and 2002. The main players in WorldCom’s accounting fraud included CFO Scott Sullivan‚ the General Accounting and Internal Audit departments‚ external auditor Arthur Andersen‚ and the board of directors. While individuals did have their own sins‚ employees cowardice and self-interested‚ the board passive and ineffective‚ external auditors
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ROBERT 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 company
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Accounting Fraud at WorldCom LDDS began operations in 1984 offering services to local retail and commercial customers in the southern states. It was initially a loss making enterprise‚ and thus hired Bernie J. (Bernie) Ebbers to run things. It took him less than a year to make the company profitable. By the end of 1993‚ LDDS was the fourth largest long distance carrier in the United States. After a shareholder vote in May 1995‚ the company officially came to be known as WorldCom. WorldCom culture
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Accounting Fraud at WorldCom Vanessa Gail Woods Strayer University Connor-Green/ACC 576 March 21‚ 2010 Accounting Fraud at WorldCom The break up of AT&T opened the long distance service market to small companies during the mid- to late-1980s and 1990s. Long Distance Discount Service (LDDS) opened in 1983 with moderate growth until its stock went public in 1989. CEO Bernie Ebbers decided to grow the organization through acquisitions (70 companies over the course of its lifetime)
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Accounting Fraud at WorldCom 1) What are the pressures that lead executives and managers to “cook the books?” After the rapid evolution of the telecommunication industry in the 1990s‚ WorldCom shifted its strategy to focus on building revenues and acquiring capacity sufficient to handle expected growth. Their biggest goal was to be the No. 1 stock on Wall Street rather than capturing the market share. As a result‚ their Expense-to-Revenue (E/R) Ratio was their measurement for their main objective
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M1. Case Study Assignment: Fraud at WorldCom 1. Who were the major characters in WorldCom? There are a couple of major characters that played their roles in the downfall of WorldCom. Mr. Bernard J. (Bernie) Ebbers‚ one of the founders of the original small long-distance carrier‚ was asked to take charge of the company during its early struggles. It was under his tenure that WorldCom began its expanding pursuits and aggressive acquisitions. Although Mr. Ebbers was he head of the company‚ their CFO
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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 performance. The fraud is committed
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WorldCom Case Study Update 20061 by Edward J. Romar‚ University of Massachusetts-Boston‚ and Martin Calkins‚ University of Massachusetts-Boston Read the original case. In December 2005‚ two years after this case was written‚ the telecommunications industry consolidated further. Verizon Communications acquired MCI/WorldCom and SBC Communications acquired AT&T Corporation‚ which had been in business since the 19th Century. The acquisition of MCI/WorldCom was the direct result of the behavior
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The WorldCom scandal was actually brought to light by the internal auditor‚ Cynthia Cooper. Cooper and her team‚ Gene Morse and Glyn Smith uncovered the fact that line costs were being transferred to capital accounts. Cooper was originally tipped off to the fact that something was amiss when the head of WorldCom’s wireless business paid her a visit‚ upset that he was loosing $400 million that had been set aside to make up for shortfalls if customers didn’t pay their bills. Scott Sullivan‚ CFO of
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Case study on WorldCom THE WORLDCOM FRAUD:- Presented By: Pratik WorldCom’s Background • Awoke the sleeping giant by leading the telecom industry into profitability in the 90’s. • During the 1990’s‚ WorldCom was deeply involved in acquisitions and completed several “mega-deals” • Purchased over 60 firms in 2nd half of the 90’s • WorldCom moved into Internet and data traffic • Handled 50% of US Internet traffic • Handled 50% of e-mails worldwide WorldCom’s Background (cont.) • Purchased MCI for
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