Cynthia Cooper Returns to Campus to Speak About Book, WorldCom Fraud Experience
Character, said Cynthia Cooper, “is forged not at some crossroad where you face a major morale decision, but it’s formed brick-by-brick, day-to-day, with the decisions you make every day in your life.”
Cooper is the former vice president of internal audit at WorldCom who blew the whistle on the largest corporate fraud in history in June 2002. She is also the author of a book about her experience, called Extraordinary Circumstances: The Journey of a Corporate Whistleblower published by Wiley & Sons in February. Among her numerous awards and recognitions is being named one of Time Magazine’s 2002 Persons of the Year.
She was at The University of Alabama to speak to several classes, faculty and staff, and to students and the public at the Ferguson Student Center Theater. Her appearance was presented by the Culverhouse College of Commerce and the Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility.
Cooper was the opening speaker in the J. Craig Smith annual lecture series. She was introduced by Dr. William E. Jackson III, professor of finance and Smith Foundation Chair of Business Ethics and Integrity.
“No one, anywhere, is a better choice for opening this series,” Jackson told the packed theater.
Cooper, who received her master’s degree in accounting from The University of Alabama and served on the Accounting Advisory Board for UA, told the audience that “character is formed decision by decision by decision” and that they should “draw clear ethical boundaries early in life.”
The fraud at WorldCom, a telecommunications company in Clinton, Miss., was uncovered when Cooper and her team discovered the company had misrepresented more than $3.9 billion to inflate profits.
‘Imagine with me if you will, what it would have been like if you lived in rural Mississippi and you were a vice president of a major corporation, and you were expected to comply?’ Cooper said.
Cooper reported the fraud to the auditing committee of the company’s board, which led to WorldCom’s chief financial officer, Scott Sullivan, being immediately fired and in 2005, WorldCom’s CEO Bernard Ebbers, being convicted by a federal jury of fraud, conspiracy and filing false documents with regulators.
In 2002, WorldCom’s shares dropped from $64 to $.83 cents. “All of my 401(k) was in WorldCom stock,” she said, adding that her father and many of her friends also lost money. WorldCom declared bankruptcy in July 2002, and in 2004, emerged from bankruptcy and changed its name to MCI.
Cooper said many corporate whistleblowers have trouble finding jobs “because employers think you’re loose cannon and that if you’ve done it once, you’ll do it again. This was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in my life.”
“I’d also like you to keep in mind that what is ethical is usually legal,” she said.
Cooper told the many students in the audience that Extraordinary Circumstances was meant for young people and college students. She said the book offered lessons that can be applied to everyday life.
“It’s a story about people and choices. The people’s names will change, but the ethical dilemmas will still take place,” she said.
Following her address, Cooper helped Jackson present the J. Craig Smith Integrity Awards to Diana Carroll, a senior majoring in management and information systems, and Joshua Daily, a senior majoring in marketing.