Posted on 03/15/2005 9:31:26 AM PST by Daus
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Bernard Ebbers, the former CEO of WorldCom, was found guilty Tuesday for his role in the mammoth accounting scandal that brought the company down two and half years ago.
A federal jury in New York, on its eighth day of deliberations, convicted Ebbers on all nine counts that he helped mastermind a $11 billion accounting fraud at WorldCom, now known as MCI.
(Excerpt) Read more at money.cnn.com ...
Exactly. The scary thing is if the jury made this decision based on the star witness/cocaine addict CFO's testimony. He had already been found guilty and was no doubt told that his sentence would be reduced if he testified against Ebbers and helped reel in the Big Fish......I just hope the jury was basing their decision on hard evidence and not the testimony of this jack-ass.
Hmmmmm, I wouldn't know the crime time for crack...you??? LOL ;)
Rather then converting grams to dollars. Let's just say 5 grams of crack cocaine. Maybe $500 if we use the White House Office of Drug Control Policy's numbers from 2003 (though my estimate of $50 a gram is probably much more likely as prices have been dropping steadily for a decade.)
Posession of 5 grams of crack cocaine will result in a 5 year Federally mandated minimum sentance. I bet you Ebbers is sentanced for no more then 5 years in prison for 11 billion in fraud. He may get a few more years than that, but I hope you see my point.
I see your point, but I still would take the bet. Bernie, for all those counts, is going to do real time. No parole in the Federal system, right?
I believe there is parole. I don't think there is any time off for good behavior or whatever (ie. you can't wrap up a 5 year sentance in 3 years), but you could maybe be paroled after say 4.
Thanks for the little extra insight.
Its the little things like that critical moment, when the bad guys know that even the best lawyers money can buy can't save them.
One can dream of $inator Hildebea$T, the Clintoon and Bernie being cell mates and cleaning up elephant dung at the local zoo for punishment.
I blame Bush!
Thank you for confirming (as you often do) my take on an issue. This Enron case is incredibly complex, and the "creative bookkeeping" done by the CFO and his cronies was hugely deceptive and nearly impossible to follow. As far as whether Lay was that deeply involved, folks more studied about this than I will have to judge - and I believe it is not so clear. Skilling, though, was right there on the spot with Fastow, and I must admit prejudice against him, though I could be persuaded differently.
This is going to be an interesting trial, and I wish that I were able to be on the jury and hear the whole of the case.
Microsoft does not exactly go down as a government victory. And Martha Stewart was a government loss on Securities Law, and shameful to boot. All it accomplished is that people under investigation will never talk to prosecutors.
Very glad about Ebbers though.
Microsoft does not exactly go down as a government victory. And Martha Stewart was a government loss on Securities Law, and shameful to boot. All it accomplished is that people under investigation will never talk to prosecutors.
Very glad about Ebbers though.
amen. This thread is a good illustration of why our founding founders set up a representative republic instead of pure democracy and mob rule.
I disagree.
Milken was guilty of true insider trading and numerous other securities crimes. The victim was the integrity of the market for all investors, not just the ones in the know. Also the victims were the ones who contemporaneously purchased or sold without the information to which he was privy as a classic undeniable insider.
In contrast Martha Stewart was not an insider in any way.
To argue that Milken was innovative and also developed "junk bonds" which were useful does not change what he did wrong. Had he played by the rules, then yes he would be praiseworthy, but he did not.
agree. Winick was involved with Milken in the 1980's and should have been barred altogether from his position. Had justice been done in the 80's Global crossing may not have ocurred.
My understanding is that there was no hard evidence, and that the whole case rested on the words of the Bernie vs. the CFO.
So Bernie says, "I was focused on strategy. I relied on the CFO to handle the accounting. I had no idea that he was cooking the books".
The CFO says, "Sure I cooked the books. Sure I committed fraud to increase my own personal wealth. Sure I made a deal with the prosecutor to reduce my sentence in exchange for testimony against Bernie. So, trust me, I told Bernie I was going to cook the books. I don't have any documents or emails to back it up, but trust me."
Hopefully, there was something more than that, but I bet it's tough to find a jury that truly understands complex business issues. I don't know if Bernie is a crook or not, but I'd have trouble with him being convicted strictly on the the testimony of an admitted felon who made a deal with the prosecutors.
From my experience, I've seen lots of CEOs who are not involved in the minute details of their businesses. To run a company the size of Worldcom or Enron, you'd have no way to stay on top of everything. Of course, $11B seems like a big enough number for him to be aware of, so who knows.
By the way, I lost about $25K on Worldcom stock, so I'd be happy with the conviction if I thought it was correct.
Man, that is a wonderful dream....if only (sigh).
There was plenty of other evidence against Milken besides Ivan Boesky. The worst of it were Chinese Wall violations.
As to whether RICO should have been used, that is a different argument. But RICO is used now for everything.
Did you know that Gary Winik of Global crossing worked with Milken?
However, I expect the trial to probably take at least four months, which makes it hard for any juror with a job to be seated. It involves offshore banking schemes, hedges and swaps, creative accounting, and outright deception. The prosecution is going to have a tough time explaining it all to anyone who doesn't have a finance degree.
Normally, I'm immune from jury duty in Houston because I live outside the city and county. But this is federal court, so I think I'm in the potential pool. Not sure about that, but there's no reason federal court would be tied to county lines.
The gang at Quest is next.
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