d it had uncovered nearly $4 billion in hidden expenses and ignited the beginning of what would become the largest corporate fraud in U.S. history. That fraud is now estimated at $11 billion. The company's collapse wiped out $200 billion in shareholder value. Four former company executives pleaded guilty to criminal charges in a fraud investigation by the Justice Department and are helping federal prosecutors. In addition, former WorldCom chief financial officer Scott Sullivan and controller David Myers were arrested in August 2002 on charges of securities fraud, conspiracy and filing false statements with the SEC. Ebbers and Sullivan were also charged with 15 violations of state securities laws in Oklahoma. They are among six ex-WorldCom employees charged there in an accounting scheme prosecutors say cost state pension funds $64 million. Ebbers was also extended $366 million in personal, board of directors-approved loans and loan guarantees from the company. Ebbers later defaulted on the loans. A report issued by MCI in June 2003 said Ebbers fostered a poisonous corporate culture and said he was "aware, at a minimum, that WorldCom was meeting revenue expectations through financial gimmickry." The report, produced by lawyer William McLucas at the request of the company's new board, said Ebbers had been in meetings in which company officials discussed ways to artificially inflate revenue. A second report, by former Attorney General Richard Thornburgh for a bankruptcy judge in New York, described a corporate culture dominated by Ebbers and Sullivan "with virtually no checks or restraints placed on their actions by the board of directors or other management." In 2003, a federal judge in New York approved a $750 million settlement between WorldCom and the Securities and Exchange Commission designed to repay investors who lost money in the fraud. WorldCom also has agreed to corporate reforms, including a court-appointed monitor and regular audits. VAULT CAREER LIBRARY 2005 Vault Inc. Vault Guide to the Top Telecom Emp