Fallen WorldCom chief faces 85 years in prison

Bernard Ebbers, who built WorldCom from a humble Mississippi company into a telecommunications titan, was convicted today of engineering the colossal accounting fraud that sank the company.

A New York jury deliberated eight days before returning guilty verdicts on one count of conspiracy, one count of fraud and seven counts of false regulatory filings – crimes carrying up to 85 years in prison.

The conviction comes more than two years after an internal auditor began asking questions about curious accounting at WorldCom, touching off a scandal that eventually unearthed €8.6bn in cooked books. The company is now known as MCI Inc.

Prosecution testimony at the six-week trial portrayed Ebbers, 63, as obsessed with keeping WorldCom’s stock price high.

Ebbers insisted he was unfamiliar with the details of accounting and knew nothing about the fraud taking place on his watch.

The conviction completes a staggering fall for Ebbers, who took a small long-distance phone company in Mississippi and merged with or acquired ever-larger companies, earning him accolades and the nickname Telecom Cowboy.

He still faces civil litigation.

WorldCom, which was based in Clinton, Mississippi, was driven into bankruptcy - the largest in US history – in the summer of 2002. It has since re-emerged as MCI Inc.

When the verdict was read, Ebbers’ face reddened. His wife, Christie, and other family members broke into tears.

He will be sentenced on June 13.