Who was the CEO of WorldCom convicted of accounting fraud?

Who was the CEO of WorldCom convicted of accounting fraud? Bernie Ebbers. The WorldCom co-founder and chief executive was convicted in 2005 after the telecommunications company manipulated its financial results.

WorldCom executives treated ordinary operating expenses as capital expenditures, making the company’s earnings look stronger than they really were. Internal auditor Cynthia Cooper and her team uncovered suspicious entries in 2002. WorldCom ultimately acknowledged that its assets had been overstated by more than $11 billion, one of the largest accounting frauds in U.S. history at the time.

A federal jury found Ebbers guilty of fraud, conspiracy, and filing false documents with regulators in March 2005. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Ebbers argued that subordinates, including CFO Scott Sullivan, were responsible, but prosecutors said the scheme was directed and approved by senior management.

WorldCom filed for bankruptcy protection in July 2002 and later emerged under the name MCI. The scandal, along with Enron’s collapse, helped drive passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which strengthened corporate accounting and executive-certification rules.