NEW YORK, Feb. 16 -- The chief defense attorney for former WorldCom Inc. chief executive Bernard J. Ebbers took center stage Wednesday, portraying the government's star witness, former finance chief Scott D. Sullivan, as a habitual liar with no witnesses and virtually no documents to back up his claim that Ebbers orchestrated the company's multibillion-dollar accounting fraud.
Defense attorney Reid H. Weingarten fenced decorously with Sullivan during his first day of cross-examination, drawing concentrated attention and occasional laughter from the 14-member panel that will decide whether Ebbers masterminded the 2000-2002 scheme to inflate WorldCom's bottom line.
Ex-WorldCom chief executive Bernard J. Ebbers, left, and his lead defense attorney, Reid H. Weingarten, walk to the courthouse where his trial on charges of securities fraud, filing false documents with the SEC and conspiring to inflate earnings is taking place.
(Gregory Bull -- AP)
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In question after question, Weingarten emphasized Sullivan's admitted history of lying when it suited his purposes. Under questioning, Sullivan acknowledged that he had omitted his illegal drug use from a security clearance form, falsely reassured WorldCom's accountants that adjustments he had ordered weren't improper, and repeatedly lied to WorldCom's board.
After Sullivan acknowledged that he had falsely claimed the company's accounting was appropriate during a June 2002 meeting of the WorldCom audit committee, Weingarten zeroed in.
"So, if you believe something is in your interest, you are willing and able to lie to accomplish it?" the defense lawyer said.
"I lied on that date," Sullivan said.
"You looked those 12 people in the eye and lied your head off?" Weingarten persisted.
"All right, Mr. Weingarten," U.S. District Judge Barbara S. Jones said to courtroom-wide laughter as she sustained the government's objection.
Ebbers, 63, is charged with securities fraud, filing false documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and conspiring to pump up WorldCom's earnings by making undisclosed changes to revenue accounting and hiding billions of dollars in operating expenses by improperly classifying them as capital expenditures.
The defense contends that Sullivan, who has pleaded guilty, masterminded the scheme and is falsely implicating Ebbers to reduce his prison term. Sullivan, 43, testified that he believed he was facing more than 30 years in prison when he cut a deal with the government in February 2004. "It was a very, very bad situation," he said.
