This article is more than 1 year old
Ebbers recalls shock of discovering WorldCom fraud
'No earthly idea that that would occur'
Bernie Ebbers said he was "shocked" when he first found out about the massive accounting fraud that floored giant telco WorldCom.
He told a New York court yesterday that his grasp of technology and accounting were limited and that he was completely in the dark about the fraud.
"I never thought anything like that had gone on," he testified yesterday. "I put those people in place, and I trusted those people. I had no earthly idea that that would occur."
Quizzed about his own personal grasp of matter the IHT reports him as saying: "I don't know about technology and I don't know about finance and accounting."
Ebbers - who denies the charges against him in relation to the $11bn (£5.8bn) book fiddling that led to the collapse of WorldCom in 2002 - also challenged the version of events laid out by the prosecution's star witness, former CFO Scott Sullivan, who testified that he had repeatedly spoken to Ebbers about the cover-up.
"He has never told me he made an entry that wasn't right," Ebbers said. "If he had, we wouldn't be here today." ®
Related stories
Ebbers in the dark over accounting scandal - witness
Ebbers trial team begins defence
Ebbers was 'intimidating' boss
WorldCom CFO lied, he admits to court Ebbers trial halted 'till Wednesday
Ebbers failed to tell of book fiddling
Ebbers 'drove Worldcom fraud' - Sullivan
Sullivan fingers Ebbers in WorldCom fraud whodunnit
WorldCom directors $54m lawsuit deal unravels
Ebbers fortune at risk as share prices slid
Former Worldcom directors cough up $18m
Ebbers never made 'an accounting decision' - witness
Ebbers feared fortune would be 'wiped out'
Ebbers knew of financial fiddling
Ebbers' financial know-how probed
Gloves off in Ebbers WorldCom fraud trial
Ebbers fraud trial kicks off
Ebbers faces WorldCom court showdown
Former Worldcom directors cough up $18m
MCI breaks free from Chapter 11
WorldCom gets sums wrong by $74bn
Bernie Ebbers faces criminal charges