WorldCom's Ebbbers Convicted of Fraud

[SW FL Dem]

Guilty on all 9 counts.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&ncid=578&e=2&u=/nm/20050315/ts_nm/crime_ebbers_dc

[goodboy]

1. kick...

[maddezmom]

2. link here: Jury Reaches Verdict in Trial of WorldCom's Ebbbers

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&ncid=578&e=2&u=/nm/20050315/ts_nm/crime_ebbers_dc

[maddezmom]

8. WorldCom's Ebbbers Convicted of Fraud...link

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&ncid=578&e=2&u=/nm/20050315/ts_nm/crime_ebbers_dc

[Robbien]

3. CNBC had an on-line poll last Friday

and the talking heads were flabbergasted that the poll said over 80% thought Ebbers was guilty.

[Trillo]

11. Yay, hold criminals at the top responsible !

Now we get to find out how many years of punishment. What's the punishment for stealing a candy bar? How many candy bars are bought with Ebber's fraud?

Some Good News !

[otohara]

4. Guilty, Guilty, Guilty

yahoo

[gratuitous]

21. Not just "guilty, guilty, guilty"

Guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty!

"Gee, I don't know nothin' about all those millions of dollars WorldCom is paying me! Money just falls out of the sky into my pocket. You can't expect me to read reports from the company whose finances are so intertwined with my personal fortune and wonder why $2 billion in liabilities just disappeared! It's not fair."

Bullshit Bernie. Go to Jail. Go Directly to Jail. Do Not Pass Go. Do Not Collect $200.

[drdon326]

5. Guilty of Conspiracy ,Securities Fraud and filing false documents. n/t

[seemslikeadream]

9. Martha send Bernie some decorating tips

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

[babylonsister]

6. Guilty on all nine counts!! See ya, Bernie. nt

[goodboy]

7. another Repuke prick bites the dust. Suck it Freepers! HAHAHA (nt)

[AlCzervik]

10. Excellent!!!

Now Ken Lay will have to change his defense cause the "I don't know nuthing bout ciphering and technical stuff" ain't gonna cut it.

[vpigrad]

17. Damn I hate to come to that idiot's defense...

but he was a school teacher! How many school teachers do you know that know anything about accounting or corporate finance? Usually the "I don't know" defense is a load of crap, but this guy didn't have any background in any business before heading Worldcom. I still think the guy is guilty as hell, but don't blindly attack the "I don't know" defense when it is valid.

[youspeakmylanguage]

25. It's still a crap defense...

When you accept the responsibilities of a job, especially one that pays a seven figure salary, you are expected to know how to do that job competently. Obviously Ebbers was either incredibly stupid or incredibly corrupt. The jury chose corrupt.

One of the things I find amazing about America (and I'm a native-born American) is that mobs of people whose retirement funds and employment are destroyed by "people" such as Ebbers don't take to the streets and call for his head, literally. Just think how someone like this would be treated in other countries around the world.

Since it has been established that Ebbers was either corrupt or incompetent, will or has the former board of directors been held legally responsible as well? They damn well should be.

[newscott]

35. Insert George Bush running a business joke here. :)

[OldLeftieLawyer]

47. It's called "fiduciary duty"

You take the money for the job, you have the obligation to know what you're doing, and, further, to protect the interests of the shareholders. So he wasn't trained in finance? So what? He had a duty to learn what he was supposed to know.

Ebbers acted as if it were his personal bank.

Justice was served.

[IronLionZion]

67. those folks are going to need social security n/t

[amazona]

28. he was freakin' CEO and he personally robbed me and friends

If you're too stupid to do your job, and someone is hurt, that is criminal negligence. He could have hired someone to go over the damn books if he was too stupid to realize that he was getting millions upon millions of dollars for nothing.

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72

[kysrsoze]

31. Whaaa? The guy took $400 Million in PERSONAL loans from the company

He KNEW what he was doing.

[UpInArms]

12. best news I've heard today!

HURRAY!

:bounce:

[Walt Starr]

13. Cool, maybe he'll have to do five months in a low security prison

if we're lucky.

[grumpy old fart]

15. The hell with prison for these guys...Take the Money Away!!!!!

That's what really gets to these guys. Make 'em return to the real world. Sentence them to live in the projects for a few years on food stamps....

[grumpy old fart]

14. Pardon in 2008?

or will it come sooner?

[David Dunham]

27. It will depend how much he now gives the national GOP

[RamboLiberal]

16. Local radio host said TV is reporting he could get Life in Prison

Probably be a cold day in hell - but wouldn't that be something?

What I want to see is prison and all assets seized and given to those who were hurt by their greed.

[Trillo]

18. 1 year for each dollar: an 'example' to be made. nt

The law has been making 'examples' of little people criminals for many years. Turn about is fair play!

[SW FL Dem]

CNN says up to 85 years n/t

[Robbien]

19. CNBC is deeply saddened and is telling sob stories about

Ebbers. Tears all over the place at CNBC.

[Cocoa]

24. aw

:nopity:

[bemildred]

20. Yippee!! Now this is fighting crime. nt

[Robert Oak]

22. shocking! one of the hundreds is going to be held accountable?

a victory in the loss of the war.

[Emboldened Chimp]

23. From CEO to cell block bitch

Fuck off, Ebbers. You are scum.

[amazona]

26. thank you Lord!

A lot of people I know were hurt by this, a friend lost $150,000 and he sure didn't have it to lose. He really robbed people in the South who thought WorldCom was a Mississippi success story.

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72

[Burma Jones]

29. This Mississippi Good Old Boy

Should spend the rest of his life on a Chain Gang...........

[Just Me]

30. YEEEEEEAAAAAAHHHHHH!!! KEN LAY,...YOU'RE NEXT!!!

Just wait, Kenny ole' boy,....when your corporate buddies are no longer holding corporate tyrannical rule over this country.

Be afraid!!! :scared: Be very afraid, Kenny Boy!!! :scared:

[Up2Late]

32. Ebbers guilty of Worldcom fraud (BBC)

Tuesday, 15 March, 2005, 18:02 GMT

Former Worldcom chief Bernie Ebbers has been found guilty of conspiracy and fraud in connection with the collapse of the telecoms company.

Mr Ebbers, 63, who had protested his innocence, was also found guilty of seven counts of filing false documents.

Shareholders lost about $180bn (£94bn) in Worldcom's 2002 collapse - the largest bankruptcy in US history - and 20,000 workers lost their jobs.

Mr Ebbers could face up to 85 years in prison when he is sentenced on 13 June.

(more at link)

<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4351975.stm>

[Seabiscuit]

33. The best news is that this does not bode well for Ken Lay

who so far has been using Ebbers' same "Elmer Fudd" defense.

[Up2Late]

34. My thought exactly, Is this bad News for Ken "Enron Victim" Lay

Will this be the death of the "I have no Idea that was going on at my company" defense?

[newscott]

43. I guess it may depend where the trial is located.

Will it be in Republican friendly Texas?

[Seabiscuit]

53. If Cheney can swing it for his bosom buddy, it might be n/t

[underpants]

36. WorldCom's Ebbers Convicted of All Counts

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=582709



NEW YORK Mar 15, 2005 — Bernard Ebbers, who built WorldCom from a humble Mississippi long-distance firm into a telecommunications titan, was convicted Tuesday of engineering the colossal accounting fraud that sank the company.

A federal jury in Manhattan deliberated eight days before returning guilty verdicts on all charges including one count of conspiracy, one count of securities fraud and seven counts of false regulatory filings crimes carrying up to 85 years in prison.

When the verdict was read, Ebbers' face reddened. His wife, Christie, and other family members broke into tears. Afterward, Ebbers and his wife hailed a taxi outside the courthouse and left without speaking to reporters.

Sentencing was set for June 13.

[Ruffhowse]

37. Ha ha ha ha ha ha HA! Oh man, he is so busted and broken. By the

time he pays his fines, serves his time, and pays off what he's gonna owe from the civil litigation, this guys life is OVER!

[ET Awful]

38. Ha Ha

[underpants]

39. Fence sitter

http://www.newsmeat.com/ceo_political_donations/Bernie_Ebbers.php

[ET Awful]

40. I don't care who he donates to, HE'S A CROOK. So, I stand by my

HA HA

[underpants]

44. I know

Ha HA indeed

[Melodybe]

41. Ken Lay, Ken Lay, Ken Lay

there's a bed in San Quentin, all ready for him to be anally raped in.

[Seabiscuit]

63. I sure hope Kenny's reading all this.

At San Quentin he'll be dubbed "Kenny Boy - the Easy Lay"

[Trillo]

42. Why doesn't the law take into account

the disparity between how rich and poor have lived in the past? It seems the poor barely survive, yet are sentenced harshly when convicted of crimes. The rich have lived lives of luxury, and when they're convicted, short sentences and posh prisons are the worst they ever experience.

Isn't this inverted from the way it should be?

[Blue_Tires]

50. that's what an army of attorneys will do for you

while the poor are lucky to get a halfway competent public defender

[underpants]

45. QUESTION-Why does he get to go home?

This is obviously coming from someone without a law degree.

If he has been convicted why don't they hold him until sentencing?

[OldLeftieLawyer]

49. He's posted bond

He's already surrendered his passport, and, really, it wasn't a crime that posed a threat of injury to others, so there was no reasonable way he could be held.

This conviction is good enough for me, though.

[bluestateguy]

46. I favor the death penalty for white collar supercriminals

I want to see white male, corporate crooks sent to the gas chamber to die a slow and painful death.

Ebbers has had his fair trial. The jury has decided, and now I say gas him!

[hippiechick]

61. I almost like that idea ...

... but it would be so much sweeter to see him lose everything he has, get a room at a boarding house, a bus pass, and $5.50 an hour to work the deep fryer at McDonald's until he's 80.

:evilgrin:

[Seabiscuit]

64. Make him live in the poor part of Flint, Michigan and take a bus 60 miles

each way to work at McDonald's.

[kcass1954]

48. Apparently, stupidity IS a crime! n/t

[Lithos]

51. Jury convicts Ebbers on all counts in fraud case

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7139448/?GT1=6305

Ex-WorldCom CEO could face 85 years; attorney vows appeal

Oh, yes!

[agitpropagent9]

52. hell yeah!

great fucking news!

[Iceburg]

54. WorldComm's CEO Ebbers convicted on all counts (up to 85 years in prison)

NEW YORK — Bernard Ebbers, the once-swaggering CEO of WorldCom, was convicted today of engineering the largest corporate fraud in U.S. history — an $11 billion accounting scandal that capsized the big telecom company three years ago.

The verdict marked a colossal fall for Ebbers, who had turned a humble Mississippi long-distance provider into a global telecommunications power, swallowing up companies along the way and earning the nickname "Telecom Cowboy."

A federal jury in Manhattan returned guilty verdicts on all nine counts, including securities fraud, conspiracy and lying to regulators — a decision that could send Ebbers, 63, to prison for the rest of his life. Sentencing was set for June 13.

The former chief executive reddened deeply when the jury announced its verdict after eight days of deliberations, and his wife, Kristie, burst into tears in the courtroom's front row. Later, as his lawyer spoke outside, promising an appeal, Ebbers and his wife — nearly toppled by the enormous crew of cameras and reporters camped outside the federal courthouse — made their way to a nearby street, hailed a cab and drove away.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/business/3086164

[Paulie]

55. He's going to RUN

I garon-tee it. No way he's going to the SLAM.

[tjdee]

56. Isn't this white collar prison he'd go to?

Not...like, Rikers.

Oh, and psch....he's not SENTENCED yet. I bet his rich lawyers get him no time at all.

[UrbScotty]

57. Come on, Dubya! Pardon your boy!

[mhr]

58. He Roast In Hell For Sure For That!

eom

[signmike]

59. Convicted on 9 counts - and DROVE AWAY!!??

x( :mad: :grr:

[7th_Sephiroth]

60. ultra elete rich

but bail is typically extended out until sentanceing

[mrbassman03]

66. A word (2) of advice...

Spell check.

[daleo]

62. Pardon, and/or phony exoneration through appeal coming up?

It just seems too hard to believe that justice could be done in Bush-world. But, for now, I will close my eyes and believe.

[truth2power]

65. Good! I hope he gets the maximum sentence. This is what puzzles me

about this. All these CEOs pull down obscene salaries and if anyone has the temerity to suggest that they may not deserve to make a gazillion more dollars than the average worker in their company, the answer is always that it takes extraordinary creativity, intelligence and knowledge to do the job. Not everyone can do it, blah blah blah....

But when they get caught with their hand in the cookie jar, it's "I had no idea what was going on in my company."

They can't have it both ways. Either they know what's going on - in which case they're accountable - or they really are that stupid, in which case they don't deserve the obscene salary they're making.

[kineneb]

68. Huzzah!!! from spouse of ex-WorldCom employee

My hubby was an MCI employee when it was taken over by WorldCom. He was one of several thousand laid off on May 1, 2002. Burnie- enjoy your prison stay, you soooo deserve it. A**hole.