Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

MCI Accused of Long-Distance Call Accounting Fraud

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the save-a-buck-or-two dept.

drcobb writes "According to the New York Times, MCI is under investigation again. This time for spoofing SS7 point codes to avoid paying access tariffs. Federal prosecutors have opened an investigation in the United States and Canada into accusations that MCI, the nation's second-largest long-distance carrier, defrauded other telephone companies of at least hundreds of millions of dollars over nearly a decade, people involved in the inquiry said."

2 of 196 comments (clear)

  1. accounting? by mandalayx · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The central element of MCI's scheme, people involved in the inquiry said, consisted of disguising long-distance calls as local calls to avoid paying special access tariffs to local carriers across the country. Those tariffs are the largest single source of MCI's costs for carrying calls and data transmissions.

    Accounting? Looks like just lying to me.

    Justice Department officials have evidence that MCI may, in effect, have "laundered" calls through small telephone companies, and even redirected domestic calls through Canada, to avoid paying access fees or shift them to rival long-distance carriers, according to people involved in the investigation.

    Remember, though, that MCI was Worldcom. (Worldcom changed their name to MCI).

    "We were told that Project Invader was an exploitation of a tariff loophole, a trick. We kept the project a secret. The traffic was ramped up slowly to avoid detection."

    Seriously, 'Project Invader'? Who comes up with these project names? Are you just asking to be caught?

  2. This is why corporate charters should be revoked.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    and upper management jailed for 20+ year sentences after corporate misgivings are proven.

    Let's face it. We, the working people, have been screwed for years under the "we're doing this for the shareholder" mantra. We've been asked to take pay cuts, work longer shifts, work weekends unpaid. Meanwhile, this is done not for the shareholders, which see no real increase, but for the top executives who use that extra productivity to support their continued bonus plan.

    This has always been about bonuses for execs. This story proves that even more.

    The only difference between organized crime and corporate America is where they get their suits tailored.