Скачать или смотреть WorldCom executive pleads guilty to securities fraud

(26 Sep 2002)
1. Medium of former Worldcom Inc. Controller David Myers and his wife walking into court Thursday afternoon.
2. Cutawawy of Myers, wife, and attorneys entering courthouse.
3. Wide of courthouse, tilts down.
4. Wide of Myers and wife leaving courthouse.
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Richard Janis, Myers Attorney
"Mr Meyers was a reluctant participant in the events that lead us here today, although he acted at the direction of others and although he expressed his discomfort and displeasure at the actions being undertaken at Worldcom. He recognizes that as a corporate officer those facts do not relieve him of his own responsibility in this matter. He has never tried to shirk that responsibility and has been forthright with the companies internal auditors as well as the governments investigators."
6. Wide cutaway of press conference
7. Medium of Myers leaving, getting into a cab.
APTN FILE - Recent
8. Various shots of a Worldcom office building and signs.
STORYLINE:
The former controller of WorldCom Inc. pleaded guilty to securities fraud charges Thursday, saying he was instructed by "senior management" to falsify records in what became the largest corporate accounting scandal in U.S. history. It was the first admission of guilt in the multibillion dollar scandal.
David Myers, 44, entered the plea in U.S. District Court in Manhattan after telling Judge Richard Casey that he wanted to waive his right to be indicted on the charges.
"I was instructed on a quarterly basis by senior management to ensure that entries were made to falsify WorldCom's books to reduce WorldCom's reported actual costs and therefore to increase WorldCom's reported earnings," Myers told the judge.
WorldCom, which owns the nation's No. 2 long-distance telephone company MCI, became the biggest corporate bankruptcy in U.S. history on July 21.
Myers and Scott Sullivan, the former chief financial officer at WorldCom, were arrested in August. Myers has been free on $2 million bond; Sullivan signed a $10 million bond. Prosecutors say they directed employees to falsify balance sheets to hide more than $3.8 billion in expenses, causing WorldCom earnings to be overstated by an even greater amount. The deception enabled WorldCom to report a profit when it was actually losing money, according to regulators.
Myers is now cooperating with the authorities against his former bosses, and has also agreed to plead guilty in Mississippi as early as next week to a single charge stemming from the same corporate swindle, Janis said. Myers faces up to 10 years on the most serious charge of filing
false reports with the SEC.
Since the fraud first came to light, WorldCom officials have revised the amount of accounting improprieties up to $7.1 billion, and recent reports said the final total may reach $9 billion.

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