The significance of the conviction of Bernard Ebbers, former WorldCom chief executive, has yet to sink in, but analysts and business community have already begun to discuss the repercussions of the trial.
The conviction of the CEO who was found guilty of one count of conspiracy, one count of securities fraud and seven counts of false regulatory filings, demostrates that coking the books comes at a cost in today’s business world no matter how high you can climb in your career. Ebbers faces a possible prison sentence of up to 85 years.
The external auditors will now be encouraged to take a more active position in exploring violations and show less deference for chief executives.
Ebbers’ lawyer, Reid Weingarten, expressed his disappointment over the court verdict and said he would appeal.
"I didn’t think there was criminal intent," he said.
The defense built their strategy around the claim that Ebbers was not sophisticated enough to know about the accounting fraud that was going on in the company.