THE HOUSE THAT WORLDCON BUILT

June 28, 2002 -- As 17,000 workers get pink slips today at the collapsing WorldCom, one of their top bosses is moving ahead to finish building his $15 million mansion at a Florida resort.

Scott Sullivan, the 40-year-old financial brain accused of the devastating profit-rigging at WorldCom, went into seclusion yesterday but progress continued at his palatial hideaway being built in Boca Raton, Fla.

A great example of executives improving the public perception of corporations. The SEC should be all over this little stunt. Will Sullivan get it finished in time to check out for the iron bar hotel he will be residing in for quite some time?

"Scott Sullivan is a crooked guy to begin with. He's very manipulative and controlling. It is entirely understandable that this would happen," said one banker who's worked directly with him on deals.

The banker said he was "hard to get a straight answer from."

Sullivan and his wife, Carla, live in a sprawling house in a well-to-do enclave on a lake outside town. They also own a Boca Raton, Fla., home and are active philanthropists in Boca Raton.

Sullivan's paycheck was just $700,000 a year until he got fired Wednesday as the alleged mastermind of the WorldCom cooked books scheme.

But he did reap a $10 million retention bonus in 2000 to stay on the job and help Ebbers hold together WorldCom, which they built together with 17 acquisitions and $30 billion in borrowed money.

Good evening, I'm Dan Rather. Devastating revelations today linking President Bush to the unfolding Worldcom fraud and bankrupcy scandal. It was revealed today that in 1999, then Governor George W. Bush attended a Dallas Cowboy football game. A game also attended by Scott Sullivan, the 40-year-old financial brain accused of the devastating profit-rigging at WorldCom. Sources have said that Bush and Sullivan sat within 3 sections of one another. While it has yet to be confirmed - or yet to be denied by the Whitehouse - these sources say Bush and Sullivan communicated via the pretzel vendor and it may have been at this very game that Sullivan told Bush of his fraudulent accounting schemes. Other sources reveal -and confirm, and I stress "confirm", that Sullivan's wife's second cousin's son contributed to the campaign of Jeb Bush, the President's brother and governor of Florida-where all the votes have yet to be counted. On Capital Hill today, Senator Lieberman says he is "deeply troubled" by the revelations. For more on "Worldcomgate" we go now to our special correspondent James Carvill. James....

The thing I would like to know is why he tried such a stupid stunt to begin with. There are a lot more sophisticated ways of fudging the books than counting current expenses as capital expenses. It was only a matter of time before this came to light. With a ethical auditing firm it would have been caught last year. Doesn't sound to me like the gang down there was very smart to begin with.

"Scott Sullivan is a crooked guy to begin with. He's very manipulative and controlling. It is entirely understandable that this would happen," said one banker who's worked directly with him on deals. The banker said he was "hard to get a straight answer from."

Are we sure he is not related in some way to Bill or Hillary?

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