As is more often the case than many like to admit, if we look closer behind the justification for unethical behaviour, it turns out that personal enrichment and agrandizement is front and center.
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Another major factor driving this fraud was Bernie Ebbers' very apparent desire to build and protect his personal financial condition. For this reason, he had to show continually growing net worth in order to avoid margin calls on his own WorldCom stock that he had pledged to secure loans.
When WorldCom, the telecommunications giant, failed and was put into bankruptcy, the U.S. witnessed one of the largest accounting frauds in history. Former CEO, Bernie Ebbers, 63, was convicted of orchestrating this US$11 billion accounting fraud and was sentenced to 25 years in prison on July 13, 2005.
How could a loss of this magnitude have occured? Where were the checks and balances? The watchdogs? Specifically, whatever happened to WorldCom's board of directors, the custodians of this once mighty corporation? Were they "asleep at the switch?"
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