Ebbers fraud trial kicks off
Ex-CFO faces probe into private life
Ensure Ease of Recovery with Asigra’s Agentless Software
The trial into the financial collapse of WorldCom in 2002 got underway in New York yesterday with US District Judge Barbara S Jones ruling that the defence is allowed to probe the private life of the prosecution's star witness.
The "star witness" in question just happens to be former WorldCom CFO Scott Sullivan. Last year he admitted "engaging in a fraudulent scheme to conceal WorldCom's poor financial performance" and agreed to co-operate with the investigation against former WorldCom boss Bernie Ebbers.
His testimony is widely believed to be crucial to fingering Ebbers as the brains behind the $11bn (£5.8bn) accounting scandal. Ebbers denies any wrongdoing in the demise in WorldCom.
In pre-trial motions yesterday the defence team was buoyed by news that Judge Jones had agreed to let the defence quiz Sullivan about alleged "marital infidelities". It's understood that the defence is likely to use this to undermine the credibility of the former CFO.
Today the court is expected to begin selecting a jury. The trial is expected to last between four and eight weeks. ®
Related stories
Ebbers faces WorldCom court showdown
Former Worldcom directors cough up $18m
WorldCom gets sums wrong by $74bn
Bernie Ebbers faces criminal charges
IT infrastructure monitoring strategies
Agentless Backup is Not a Myth
Top 10 SIEM implementer’s checklist
Steps to Take Before Choosing a Business Continuity Partner
Enabling efficient data center monitoring
