Dedication vi
Introduction vii
Acknowledgments xi
CHAPTER 1 A Dark Cloud 1
CHAPTER 2 Graduation Day 12
CHAPTER 3 New Beginnings 26
CHAPTER 4 Hotlanta 41
CHAPTER 5 The Turnaround 50
CHAPTER 6 Coming Home 60
CHAPTER 7 Building A New Life 71
CHAPTER 8 King of the Resellers 82
CHAPTER 9 The Hottest Company in Town 91
CHAPTER 10 Nowhere to Go But Up 105
CHAPTER 11 A New Era 123
CHAPTER 12 The Glass Sieve 137
CHAPTER 13 The Tide Comes In 145
CHAPTER 14 The Minnow Swallows the Whale 151
CHAPTER 15 Finding Balance 163
CHAPTER 16 Top of the Mountain 167
CHAPTER 17 A Double-Edged Sword 174
CHAPTER 18 A Titan Stumbles 184
CHAPTER 19 The Rule of Ten 202
CHAPTER 20 What is Prepaid Capacity? 217
CHAPTER 21 Growing Suspicions 229
CHAPTER 22 A Surprise Visit 242
CHAPTER 23 The Confrontation 251
CHAPTER 24 A Desperate Search For Counsel 265
CHAPTER 25 Washington Attorneys Visit the Deep South 280
CHAPTER 26 Navigating the Storm 296
CHAPTER 27 A Visit to Federal Court 322
CHAPTER 28 The United States Versus Bernard J. Ebbers 338
CHAPTER 29 The Judgment 351
EPILOGUE 362
NOTES 368
INDEX 395
CYNTHIA COOPER was one of Time's 2002 Persons of the Year. She was the vice president of internal audit for WorldCom and subsequently MCI. Cynthia was featured as one of twenty-five influential working mothers in Working Mother magazine, and earned the distinction of being the first woman to receive the AAA Accounting Exemplar Award and to be inducted into the AICPA Business & Industry Hall of Fame. She resigned from MCI in 2004, following the company's successful emergence from bankruptcy, and now shares the lessons she has learned through her experiences with professionals and students. She and her husband Lance reside in Mississippi with their two daughters.
"Extraordinary Circumstances details the struggle to get management
to take internal audit seriously. The story of the investigation
comes to life through Cynthia's words. I found myself drawn into
the story. Congratulations, Cynthia, on a successful first book.
And many thanks for being willing to stand up to the truth and
fight to expose the WorldCom fraud." ("bloggingstocks.com," 4/3/08)
"Cooper's story is personal and interesting...it's a cautionary
tale for corporate executives. The book is an interesting story of
how Cooper ended up as a major player in a very important business
story." ("TexaxLawyer.com," 3/31/08) "Extraordinary Circumstances
is a must read for anyone who wants to understand the dynamics of
an accounting fraud. It tells the story of how that fraud was
uncovered and of the ugly manipulation and deceit she encountered
along the way." ("Bloomberg.com," 2/28/08) .,."blow-by-blow detail
is what makes Cooper's "Extraordinary Circumstances" well worth
reading. Cooper's willingness to reveal her innermost thoughts as
she dug makes for gripping reading." ("BusinessWeek," February 25,
2008) .,."with the publication of her new book, "Extraordinary
Circumstances: The Journey of A Corporate Whistleblower," we
finally get an inside account of what really happened at WorldCom.
It's a powerful tale. Cooper's story has been partially told
before, most notably in the "Wall Street Journal" and in a report
prepared for WorldCom's board of directors. But her adventures at
WorldCom come to life in this first-person account." ("USA Today,"
February 15, 2008) "Readers of Cooper's book, "Extraordinary
Circumstances: The Journey of a Corporate Whistleblower," will
findit easy to identify with both the employees who manipulated the
telecommunications giant's financial statements and those who
caught them." ("Reuters.com," February 7, 2008) .,."it's a
fascinating study of the quantum changes in character that
accompany the accumulation of unimaginable wealth as well as an
uncomfortable reminder of how, faced with an ethical fork in the
road, just how easy it is for some to take a wrong turn."
("WebCPA.com," February 2008) "This is a heroic, often exciting
tale of a person who, in the course of doing her job, stumbles on a
big lie and pushes on to get to the bottom of it." ("CFO.com";
1/25/08)
.,."with the publication of her new book, "Extraordinary
Circumstances: The Journey of A Corporate Whistleblower," we
finally get an inside account of what really happened at WorldCom.
It's a powerful tale. Cooper's story has been partially told
before, most notably in the "Wall Street Journal" and in a report
prepared for WorldCom's board of directors. But her adventures at
WorldCom come to life in this first-person account." ("USA Today,"
February 15, 2008) "Readers of Cooper's book, "Extraordinary
Circumstances: The Journey of a Corporate Whistleblower," will find
it easy to identify with both the employees who manipulated the
telecommunications giant's financial statements and those who
caught them." ("Reuters.com," February 7, 2008) .,."it's a
fascinating study of the quantum changes in character that
accompany the accumulation of unimaginable wealth as well as an
uncomfortable reminder of how, faced with an ethical fork in the
road, just how easy it is for some to take a wrong turn."
("WebCPA.com," February 2008) "This is a heroic, often exciting
tale of a person who, in the course of doing her job, stumbles on a
big lie and pushes on to get to the bottom of it." ("CFO.com";
1/25/08)
"Outstanding! This page-turning account of the WorldCom fiasco
reads like a suspense novel. I was on the edge of my seat to the
last page. When pressure to meet market expectations collided with
Cynthia Cooper's ethical values, she made the brave decision to do
the job she'd been entrusted to do as an auditor. We need more
leaders like Cynthia. If the free enterprise system is to survive,
companies need to take corporate values and ethics checks
seriously. This book should be required reading for leaders
everywhere." ―Ken Blanchard, co-author of "The One Minute
Manager"(R) and "Self Leadership and Leading at a Higher Level"
"Reading this book will help all business people prepare for their
own Extraordinary Circumstances and give them the courage to act as
Cynthia did.""―Dennis R. Beresford; Former Chair of the Financial
Accounting Standards Board, Former MCI Audit Committee Chair,
Professor of Accounting at the University of GA" "An excellent
read! In "Extraordinary Circumstances," Cynthia Cooper paints a
picture of WorldCom's journey down the slippery slope of corporate
ethics. The message is uplifting and inspiring. This is a "must
read" for those interested in establishing good governance and
ethical values in their organization. This book will be required
reading for our students."―"Glenn E. Sumners, Director LSU Center
for Internal Auditing" "Extraordinary Circumstances is a terrific
read.""―Joseph T. Wells, CFE, CPA, Founder and chairman Association
of Certified Fraud Examiners"
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