Growing up, cooper was well aware that money was tight and consequently began working as teenager at places such as mcdonalds, morrows nut house, and golden corral. One of the few books available about worldcom was written by the vice president of internal audit, cynthia cooper. Time magazine has been naming its persons of the year since 1927. She was the vice president of internal audit for worldcom and subsequently mci. Extraordinary circumstances summary by cynthia cooper. In extraordinary circumstances, cynthia cooper paints a picture of worldcoms journey down the slippery slope of corporate ethics. After months of sleuthing, initially not sure what they w. In cooper s thorough and efficient narrative about the fantastic collapse of telecommunications giant worldcom there are two distinct themes. How three unlikely sleuths exposed fraud at worldcom. Growing up, cooper was well aware that money was tight and consequently began working as teenager at places. Extraordinary circumstances the journey of a corporate whistleblower. Cynthia cooper is thought of as a prime example of a whistleblower for her role in uncovering the worldcom accounting scandal. However, kennedy in explaining the slippery slope, or when we lose our footing by citing the cynthia cooper book extraordinary circumstances. Cooper s book and felt compelled to forward this email to you.
She almost singlehandedly created the internal audit department at worldcom, and. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Worldcom whistleblower to tell story at uni inside uni. A new book reveals the exposure of the largest fraud in corporate history, with cynthia cooper, extraordinary circumstances author and cnbc s becky quick.
This case details the inhouse discovery of worldcoms fraudulent accounting practices and the ethical considerations employees faced during the investigation. Cynthia cooper was one of the worldcom employees who discovered massive fraud,and forced the company to deal with the issue. Cynthia cooper, corporate whistleblower, discusses her discovery of one of the largest frauds in. Readers of coopers book, extraordinary circumstances. Aug 14, 2011 cynthia cooper, worldcom whistleblower, is releasing her book in just few days. The fall of worldcom and rise of corporate whistleblowing.
My team and i were ordinary people who found ourselves facing extraordinary circumstances. The journey of a corporate whistleblower is her story. Her book describes the rise, fraud, and fall of the worldcom empire, in parallel with her own education and career. Video 1 presents cnbcs interview with cynthia cooper following her book release and her life after worldcom. She was among time magazines persons of the year in 2002. Her boss, scott sullivan, asked her to delay reporting her findings for one quarter. June 27, 2006 was the 2004 presidential election stolen. The journey of a corporate whistleblower kindle edition by cooper, cynthia. The longer worldcom chief audit executive cynthia cooper stares at the entries in front of her, the more sinister they seem. This is a must read for those interested in establishing good governance and ethical values in their organization. Cynthia cooper is an american accountant who formerly served as the vice president of internal audit at worldcom. Her tenacious investigations uncovered the largest fraud in corporate history.
Cynthia cooper, bestselling author, consultant and internationally recognized voice for ethical leadership, will speak at eku on march 28 and 29. Additionally, cooper released her book extraordinary circumstances in 2008, which is a reflection on the challenges she faced to become a corporate whistleblower. Cedar falls, iowa cynthia cooper helped grow the company she worked for into a corporate behemoth, then assisted in its downfall by revealing massive internal fraud. This is the text of an unsolicited email i received on 022208 from gene morse, a former worldcom internal auditor alongside cynthia cooper. The worldcom fraud that changed everything floqast. Professionalismcynthia cooper and worldcom wikibooks.
Why did you write the book extraordinary circumstances. Cynthia cooper moved from being the head of internal auditing at worldcom to a true hero. This is a must read for those interested in establishing. If it is anything like the speech i heard her give a few years ago at the association of certified fraud examiners fraud conference, it will be fantastic. Cynthia cooper named one of time magazines persons of the year for her role in unraveling the fraud at worldcom is an internationally recognized motivational speaker, author of extraordinary circumstances and consultant as ceo of the coopergroup. How three unlikely sleuths exposed fraud at worldcom wsj. Shortly after the fraud was uncovered, worldcom filed for bankruptcy and collapsed. Nov 16, 2009 one of the few books available about worldcom was written by the vice president of internal audit, cynthia cooper. Mar 23, 2018 cynthia cooper, bestselling author, consultant and internationally recognized voice for ethical leadership, will speak at eku on march 28 and 29. This case details the inhouse discovery of worldcom s fraudulent accounting practices and the ethical considerations employees faced during the investigation. Coopers book about her life and the worldcom fraud, extraordinary circumstances. But the odyssey that began when cynthia cooper, the thenvice president of internal audit at worldcom, decided to investigate anomalies in the companys accounting entries ended by inspiring critical and heavily criticized legislation.
The worldcom employee who uncovered a massive accounting fraud tells the full, twisting tale in a new book. Cynthia cooper was one of times 2002 persons of the year. Deceit and betrayal at worldcom, lynne jeter does a remarkable job of capturing the entrepreneurial, overthetop spirit that was the hallmark of the telecom industry at its outset, and of worldcom, in particular, from the time bernie ebbers took its helm when it was still called ldds to its demise and the aftermath. Steve freeman and joel bleifuss talked about their book, was the 2004 presidential election stolen. The journey of a corporate whistleblower, was published in 2008. Watkins was called to testify before committees of the u.
Get the key points from this book in less than 10 minutes. Cynthia was named one of time magazines persons of the year. Apr 05, 2008 cynthia cooper was a true corporate whistleblower. In addition to cynthia, the designation has been given to seven women including madame chiang kaishek, elizabeth ii and. Having discovered that sullivan had decided to use his units reserves to reduce expenses, vice president of internal audit, cynthia cooper, raised the issue to worldcoms audit committee, defeating sullivan in fierce debate while gathering enough motive to start a more formal investigation. In may 2002, cynthia cooper, vice president of internal audit for worldcom, the secondlargest telecommunications company in the united states, faced an extremely difficult decision. The longer worldcom chief audit executive cynthia cooper stares at the entries in front of her, the more sinister they. Sherron watkins born august 28, 1959 is an american former vice president of corporate development at the enron corporation.
At the time in 2002, it was the largest incident of accounting fraud in the u. Still, something in the pit of her stomach tells her to keep digging. But the only reason worldcoms board of directors discovered the accounting fraud was through the efforts of the companys internal auditor, cynthia cooper, and her dedicated subordinates. Corporate whistleblower cynthia cooper to speak at eku. But as vice president of internal audit she discovered some suspicious entries in the companys books. Cynthia cooper just wanted to live a quiet life working for the pride of mississippi worldcom. Worldcom whistleblower challenges fox students to find. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading extraordinary circumstances. Oct 31, 2019 having discovered that sullivan had decided to use his units reserves to reduce expenses, vice president of internal audit, cynthia cooper, raised the issue to worldcoms audit committee, defeating sullivan in fierce debate while gathering enough motive to start a more formal investigation.
Senate responded to revelations about massive accounting fraud at the telecom giant by. She became famous, not by choice, but because of the worldcom financial statement fraud valued at. But the cfo is badgering her to delay her teams audit of the companys books and directing others to block cooper s efforts. Jan 01, 2007 the longer worldcom chief audit executive cynthia cooper stares at the entries in front of her, the more sinister they seem. The journey of a corporate whistleblower 2008, ethical missteps begin with similar circumstances like the example provided in our exercise. Cooper, former vice president and head of internal audit at worldcom corporation, will tell her whistleblower story at the university of northern iowa at 5 p. But the cfo is badgering her to delay her teams audit of the companys books and directing others to block coopers. Cynthia cooper worldcom whistleblower ethics speaker.
The worldcom accounting scandal is an important case in ethics. Cynthia cooper and worldcom a darden business publishing. Worldcom whistleblower challenges fox students to find their. She described her experiences during the rise and fall of worldcom where she was vice. Just goes to show that there is always more story to the story. House of representatives and senate at the beginning of 2002, primarily about her warnings to enrons thenceo kenneth lay about accounting irregularities in the financial statements. Cynthia cooper and her colleagues worried about their revelations bringing down the company. But the cfo is badgering her to delay her teams audit of the companys books and directing others to block coopers efforts. The longer worldcom chief audit executive cynthia cooper stares at the entries. Now i am not comparing mary to ken lay, eron, or worldcom. Cynthias story of how she handled her supervisors pressure, and scaringtechniques, she stayed true to herself and her principles and exposed the massive worldcom corporate fraud. Cynthia cooper, former vice president, worldcom the longer worldcom chief audit executive cynthia cooper stares at the entries in front of her, the more sinister they seem. Cynthia cooper, worldcom whistleblower, is releasing her book in just few days. Case 21 cynthia cooper and worldcom cynthia cooper details her trials and tribulations about her experiences at worldcom in the book extraordinary circumstances.
Case 21 cynthia cooper worldcom case 21 cynthia cooper. Cooper takes readers behind the scenes on a riveting, realtime journey as. The following excerpts from the book describe the actions she took to uncover the fraud at worldcom and reactions of key players in the accounting department, top management, the audit. In addition to cynthia, the designation has been given to seven women including madame chiang kaishek, elizabeth ii and corazon aquino. Cynthia cooper talked about her book, extraordinary circumstances. She and her team did not know for certain whether this additional time period might have given sullivan time to save the company from bankruptcy. She and her colleagues were courageous, dogged, and thorough. Cynthia cooper is an internationally recognized speaker, bestselling author and consultant.
Professionalismcynthia cooper and worldcom wikibooks, open. Cynthia cooper, exworldcom vp and former head of its internal auditing department, is a genuine hero. Cynthia cooper cynthia cooper was born and raised in clinton, mississippi, in a neighborhood not far from the worldcom company headquarters. Cynthia cooper is the former head of internal auditing at worldcom. Cooper, the whistle blower, helped bring the scandal to light. The actions of ebbers and sullivan pushed the company into bankruptcy and later found guilty of securities fraud. Feb 16, 2008 but the only reason worldcom s board of directors discovered the accounting fraud was through the efforts of the companys internal auditor, cynthia cooper, and her dedicated subordinates. Despite her supervisors pressure, browbeating and subterfuge, cooper uncovered and exposed the massive worldcom corporate fraud. Extraordinary circumstances summary cynthia cooper pdf. She was the vice president of internal audit at worldcom, a position that was not easily obtained. Extraordinary circumstances summary in june 2002, worldcom reported that it was in a financially bad place.
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