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WorldCom Fraud Doubles

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the jail-jail-jail-jail-jail-jail-jail dept.

Silvaran writes "No, this isn't a repeat story. WorldCom claims another $3.3 billion accounting error. That's about $7 billion, for those that are counting. Wish I had that kind of cash to miscalculate on my income tax forms." There's also a NYT story. I love how the news outlets are saying, "error", "irregularity", "problem", as if this was all some sort of tragic accident, instead of laying out the obvious truth, "criminal fraud committed with full knowledge it was a crime".

3 of 535 comments (clear)

  1. And on top of that few billion... by killthiskid · · Score: 5, Interesting
    WorldCom also said that when the earnings are restated, it would most likely take a write-off of as much as $50.6 billion related to the reduced value of past acquisitions.

    So theres another $50.6 billion down the hole, too.


    What I don't get about telecom, esp. the telecom in my area, QWest, is how the hell they are rolling in money. My phone bill is outrageous... and they have a monopoly in the region. I know they're getting at least $40 out of every person with a phone in the midwest... where the hell does all that money go?


  2. Spin doctoring by zevans · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Maybe the American press are skirting the issue - but the British press certainly aren't: try
    The Guardian ("fraud" appears 5 times) and The Times which even uses the word "scam".

    Zack

    --
    "... and more and more now there are all kinds of electronic goodies available" -- Pink Floyd 1972
  3. Re:Hey Michael by sphealey · · Score: 5, Interesting
    If you can somehow illustrate how the terminology in the computer industry is similarly bastardized, I'd welcome the chance to debunk it. Regardless what seems "pretty obvious" - the truth is in the words. If it can't be quoted, it CAN be denied.
    When your ERP system corrupts all your accounts receivable data, leaving your company with no source of revenue, the ERP vendor will tell you the software is "working as designed". So you go to your backup tapes, hoping against hope that you can at least load the data in Excel and do something with it, only to find out that the backup software has been reporting for 6 months that it has backed up and verified your data files but hasn't actually written anything to tape (happened to me). The backup vendor tells you their software has a "bug" or an "issue", and of course the disclaimer of liability means it isn't their fault. Bye bye company.

    Do you need more examples? I can provide plenty!

    sPh