These some of major key players
involved in the WorldCom scandal:
Bernard Ebbers - He is one of the
firm’s founders in 1983. In 1985 he took
the position of chief executive officer in the company. He held the position until his resignation in April of 2002. It was
his financial woes could have been the motivation that sparked the fuel for the
accounting scandal that occurred under his supervision. He had an excess of $400 million dollars in
personal loans using his WorldCom stock as collateral at the time of his resignation. 
Scott Sullivan – He was the chief
financial officer and secretary of WorldCom.
He was also fired in June of 2002 for his blatant roll in the improper
accounting. He was also a close ally of
Bernard Ebbers. 
David Myers – He was the controller
and senior vice president of WorldCom. He resigned in June 2002, the same day
as the firing of Sullivan, because of his alleged involvement in the improper
accounting. 
Betty Vinson – She was the former
director of corporate accounting at WorldCom.
She was sentenced to five months in prison for her role in the scandal. (Bennett,
2005)
Troy Normand – He was a former
accountant for WorldCom. He was
sentenced to 3 years probation for his role in the scandal. (Bennett,
2005)
Arthur Anderson LLP – Kenneth M.
Avery and Melvin Dick were the primary auditors representing their firm in the
WorldCom scandal. They were accused of
not exercising due care and skepticism in their 2001 audits of the
company. Dick was barred from practicing
accounting for 4 years and Avery was barred for 3 years. 
Jack Grubman – He was an analyst on
Wall Street at the time of the scandal.
He had a very intimate relationship with key members of many top
organizations that he was giving financial advice about to customers. He urged people to buy WorldCom securities
and then urged them sell. He maintains
that he was unaware of the scandal until it was made publicly known. He has been banned for life from the
securities business and ordered to pay a 15 million dollar fine. He was not being charged criminally. 
John Sidgmore – He was vice chairman
of the board until 2002 when Ebbers resigned.
He then became WorldCom’s new CEO.
He was never charged in the accounting scandal and maintains that he was
not involved in the finances of the company in many years. He did publicly apologize on behalf of
WorldCom for its behavior and vowed to see that those involved are punished. (Obituary, 2003)
Cynthia Cooper – Chief Internal
Auditor of WorldCom. She brought the
accounting discrepancies that she and her team found to the attention of
Sullivan, Arthur Anderson LLP, Myers and many more throughout the company. She was told to ignore the issue. She conducted her own audit of the company in
comparison to the Arthur Anderson audit.
With the help of her team, she “blew the whistle” on the scandal at
WorldCom to their audit committee in Washington D.C. (Carozza, 2008)
AccountancyAge.com. (2005, August 11). Sullivan
gets five years for WorldCom fraud. Retrieved from AccountancyAge:
http://www.accountancyage.com/aa/news/1770276/sullivan-worldcom-fraud
AccountancyAge.com. (2006, July 31). WorldCom boss
loses appeal. Retrieved from AccountancyAge:
http://www.accountancyage.com/aa/news/1788137/worldcom-boss-loses-appeal
Bennett, J. (2005, August). Third Ex World Com
Exec. Jailed. Retrieved from AccountancyAge:
http://www.accountancyage.com/aa/news/1753576/third-worldcom-exec-jailed
Carozza, D. (2008, March/April). Extraordinary
Circumstances: An Interview with Cynthia Cooper. Retrieved from Fraud
Magazine: http://www.fraud-magazine.com/article.aspx?id=210
Frontline. (2003, May 8). The Wall Street Fix.
Retrieved from PBS.org:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/wallstreet/wcom/players.html
Hawkes, A. (2008, April 16). Worldcom auditors
settle SEC charges. Retrieved from AccountancyAge:
http://www.accountancyage.com/aa/news/1761111/worldcom-auditors-settle-sec-charges
McClam, E. (2009, February 11). Former WorldCom
Exec Gets Prison. Retrieved from CBSNews.com:
http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-201_162-770079.html?pageNum=1&tag=page
Obituary. (2003, December 14). John Sidgmore, 52;
Helped Reveal WorldCom Scandal. Retrieved from Los Angeles Times:
http://articles.latimes.com/2003/dec/14/local/me-passings14
U.S. Telecommunications Company WorldCom Says It Hid
$3.8 Billion in Expenses; Write-down Is Largest in U.S. History; Other
Developments. (2002, June 27).
Retrieved from Facts on File World News Digest database:
http://www.2facts.com/article/2002253770
*Andersen
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