WorldCom founder pleads not guilty
By Thor Valdmanis
USA Today
NEW YORK — Bernard Ebbers pleaded not guilty to securities fraud and other charges yesterday, as prosecutors said they expected to bring more criminal charges in coming weeks against the fallen founder and former CEO of WorldCom.
During a 20-minute court hearing, federal prosecutors also revealed that additional defendants could be charged in the WorldCom case, the largest corporate fraud case in the nation's history.
Appearing attentive and relaxed in a blue blazer, pale blue tie and wearing his trademark white beard, Ebbers, 62, pleaded not guilty to fraud, conspiracy and making false statements in connection with the $11 billion accounting scandal that triggered WorldCom's collapse two years ago.
District Court Judge Barbara Jones set a tentative trial date of Nov. 9 and released Ebbers on a personal recognizance bond of $10 million, secured in part by his $2.5 million home in Brookhaven, Miss.
If convicted, Ebbers could face up to 25 years in prison and millions of dollars in fines. Additional charges could include insider trading and bank fraud.
WorldCom, now MCI, is scheduled to emerge from bankruptcy-court protection this spring.
But investors were wiped out and 20,000 employees lost their jobs after the crash of the sprawling telecom empire Ebbers built out of a small Mississippi reseller of long-distance services.
The former high school basketball coach, who often wore cowboy boots and jeans in the executive suite, is widely blamed for helping contribute to the telecom bust with his aggressive deal-making and freewheeling spending.
Twenty-four hours earlier, before the same judge, Ebbers' former CFO and longtime confidant Scott Sullivan pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy and fraud, agreeing to cooperate against Ebbers in exchange for a more lenient sentence.
Prosecutors made the most of their latest strike against a disgraced one-time corporate titan, parading Ebbers to court in lower Manhattan in handcuffs, escorted by FBI agents and trailed by television cameras.
After the court proceeding, defense lawyer Reid Weingarten proclaimed his client's innocence.
Weingarten also discounted Sullivan's decision to help prosecutors in their attempt to prove Ebbers had a hand in cooking WorldCom's books.
Sullivan's move came "on the eve of a trial at which he was facing virtually a life sentence," Weingarten said, adding the former CFO acted "to save his family."
