WORLDCOM SCANDAL (2002) The WorldCom scandal was one of the most shocking and widespread frauds to rock Wall Street in a generation. In 2001, WorldCom, one of the world's largest telecommunication companies and a core dividend-paying stock that many retirees held in their portfolios, attempted to falsely inflate the earnings on its profit and loss statement by nearly $4 billion. It did so by manipulating its financial data, which affected its: Income statement, Balance sheet, Form 10-K filing, Annual report

• Identify internal controls that might have deterred or prevented the fraud from occurring
  • What could have been done to prevent the fraud
  • What could have been done to detect the fraud
• Document how the fraud was investigated
• Discuss the resolution (or possible resolution if the case is still pending)
• Possible items that could be included in the appendices:
  • Copies of articles that discuss the fraud
  • Any financial statements
  • Charts, graphs or tables that help to illustrate your research
  • Bullet points of a timeline that breaks down your research