opening statement

The government is going to take you inside the doors of what was once the one of largest telecommunication companies in the world, WorldCom and tell the story of how an 11$ billion dollar accounting fraud led to one of the largest bankruptcy filings in history. In the two years before WorldCom declared bankruptcy, one man at the helm of the company told lie after lie about the true financial condition of WorldCom, lies that artificially inflated his own stock holdings and lies that deprived the common investors of information that they needed to make fully informed decision about their own stock.

This is a case about stocks, lies, and a man that was willing to defraud the public of billions of dollars in order to support his lavish lifestyle.
.
Money, power, and pressure corrupted Ebbers to approve of and direct subordinates to understate expenses and inflate revenues to meet the lofty Wall Street expectations.

This case is simple, it is not necessarily about accounting, it is about lies and choices. This case will show you that this defendant worked to lie and to mislead. He violated his duty of trust placed in him. Securities laws are intended to allow investors to buy, sell, or hold based on accurate information. When people buy stock in a public company, they purchase the right to be told the truth. This man, Bernard Ebbers, violated that trust by telling lie after lie about the true financial condition of WorldCom.

Bare with me as I summarize some background facts on Bernie and WorldCom

Later in this trial evidence may be presented to persuade you that Bernie was aloof of accounting or somehow not connected to the fraud that took place. The evidence will also highlight he was hands on, savvy, involved in every aspect.

The story of Bernard Ebbers has another element of tragedy in that it was not a lack of legitmate entrepreneurial skills that caused Ebbers to resort to fraud. Ebbers used his skill to build a small Mississippi