WorldCom accounting scandal

E126393

The WorldCom accounting scandal was a massive early-2000s corporate fraud case in which the telecommunications giant inflated its earnings by billions of dollars, becoming one of the largest accounting scandals in U.S. history and helping spur major reforms in financial regulation.

All labels observed (4)

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (50)

Predicate Object
instanceOf accounting scandal ⓘ
corporate fraud case ⓘ
financial scandal ⓘ
securities fraud case ⓘ
amountInvolved over 3.8 billion US dollars initially disclosed ⓘ
over 7 billion US dollars eventually identified ⓘ
announcedBy WorldCom ⓘ
linked to: WorldCom, Inc.
auditor Arthur Andersen ⓘ
bankruptcyFilingDate July 21 2002 ⓘ
bankruptcySignificance one of the largest corporate bankruptcies in U.S. history at the time ⓘ
bankruptcyType Chapter 11 bankruptcy ⓘ
consequence MCI later acquired by Verizon Communications ⓘ
WorldCom rebranded as MCI after bankruptcy ⓘ
cooperation Scott Sullivan cooperated with prosecutors ⓘ
country United States ⓘ
criminalCharge conspiracy ⓘ
filing false reports with the SEC ⓘ
securities fraud ⓘ
discoveryDate June 2002 ⓘ
endDate 2002 ⓘ
fraudType earnings manipulation ⓘ
improper capitalization of expenses ⓘ
overstatement of assets ⓘ
understatement of line costs ⓘ
impact greater scrutiny of telecom accounting practices ⓘ
job losses for employees ⓘ
loss of confidence in financial reporting ⓘ
losses for shareholders ⓘ
industry telecommunications ⓘ
keyExecutive Bernard Ebbers ⓘ
Scott Sullivan ⓘ
ledTo Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002 ⓘ
WorldCom bankruptcy ⓘ
increased corporate governance reforms ⓘ
restatement of WorldCom financial statements ⓘ
stricter auditing standards in the United States ⓘ
mainCompanyInvolved WorldCom ⓘ
linked to: WorldCom, Inc.
method capitalizing line costs that should have been expensed ⓘ
making unsupported top-side accounting entries ⓘ
oversightBody WorldCom board of directors ⓘ
positionOfBernardEbbers Chief Executive Officer of WorldCom ⓘ
positionOfScottSullivan Chief Financial Officer of WorldCom ⓘ
regulator U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ⓘ
relatedTo Enron accounting scandal ⓘ
restatementPeriod 1999 to first quarter 2002 financial results ⓘ
sentenceForBernardEbbers 25 years in prison ⓘ
startDate 1999 ⓘ
timePeriod early 2000s ⓘ
trialOutcomeForBernardEbbers convicted in 2005 ⓘ
trialOutcomeForScottSullivan pleaded guilty ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (7)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Public Law 107-204 → motivatedBy → WorldCom accounting scandal ⓘ
Public Company Accounting Oversight Board → createdAfter → WorldCom scandal ⓘ
linked to: WorldCom accounting scandal
Sarbox → relatedTo → WorldCom scandal ⓘ
linked to: WorldCom accounting scandal
WorldCom accounting scandal → oversightBody → WorldCom board of directors ⓘ
linked to: WorldCom accounting scandal
Bernard Ebbers → notableFor → WorldCom accounting scandal ⓘ
Cynthia Cooper → associatedWith → WorldCom accounting scandal ⓘ
Bernard Ebbers → notableFor → WorldCom accounting fraud scandal ⓘ
subject linked to: Ebbers
linked to: WorldCom accounting scandal