eShop USA > Books > Stolen Without A Gun: Confessions from inside history's biggest accounting fraud - the collapse of MCI Worldcom
Stolen Without A Gun: Confessions from inside history's biggest accounting fraud - the collapse of MCI Worldcom
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 364
EAN: 9780979755804
ISBN: 0979755808
Label: Etika Books
Manufacturer: Etika Books
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 312
Publication Date: September 01, 2007
Publisher: Etika Books
Studio: Etika Books
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Editorial Review:
Walter Pavlo, Jr. was a young MBA rising quickly through the finance ranks at the nation’s second largest telecom company. With a beautiful wife, two kids and a promising career, he epitomized the American dream. Pavlo’s life took a dark turn when he became a willing participant in the company’s efforts to hide from investors and potential acquirers a mountain of bad debt run up by mobsters and other unsavory customers. Encouraged by higher-ups, Pavlo became accomplished at accounting gimmickry. Then the jaded young executive consorted with a colorful scam artist and others to use some of the same ploys he’d devised for his employer to enrich himself at its expense. A ruse born of disillusionment and greed turned into a nightmare for Pavlo after he was caught and forced to choose--rat on his buddies or spend decades rotting in prison. His crimes ultimately cost Pavlo his freedom, family, reputation and self-respect. Only later did he recognize that his original sins were part and parcel of the corruption that led to an historic collapse for his company, his industry and of public confidence in corporate America. With humor and raw honesty, Pavlo and award-winning Forbes senior editor Neil Weinberg use this compelling personal story to portray in intimate detail the pressures millions of white-collar workers face every day.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - No Sympathy and NO PROFIT ... Don't buy it, don't read it
As an MCI employee, who lost their life savings and their job to the fiasco that was the MCI/Worldcom fraud, the fact that anyone responsible for it's failure are allowed to PROFIT in any way, even through a book is a TRAVESTY! I only gave it a star because I had to, in order to publish this review.
Rating:  - WOW!! What a good read!!
This book reminds me of what happened at Enron because like Andy Fastow, this guy was doing side deals with 900 phone number companies who owed millions to MCI. He would cook the books at MCI so that it would appear that the debt had been paid off..then he would arrange to collect the debt himself...and MCI was never the wiser. Amazing what you can get away with in the corporate world...NO CHECKS AND BALANCES AT MCI.
Rating: - Fast-Paced and Fact-Based Corporate Intrigue
Walter Pavlo, Jr.'s story is an interesting tale, one that was later obscured by the larger fraud that occurred after he left MCI and after MCI merged with WorldCom. It's an important story nonetheless because it provides the reader with insider insight into how public corporations push their employees to "make numbers" and what happens when those employees not only take it too far, but learn how to game the system to their own advantage.
Neil Weinberg does an excellent job telling the ... Read More
Rating:  - Best read between the lines... as fiction
So MCI, like Enron, was caught. And many others, including AOL, escaped from the crime of channel stuffing and/or cooking their books to meet Wall Street estimates, which was as common in the late 90s as speeding on a interstate highway today. It was implicitly required by Wall Street, in order to justify the shares of the company being used as currency for future acquisitions--MCI/Worldcom was just one of many 'guilty parties'. None of these people deserved to go to jail, certainly not as many years ... Read More
Rating: - Very Good Story
I read this book for a business ethics class I am taking. Additionally, Walt came into our class to speak to us, telling his story and answering questions. I definitely found this to be the highlight of the class. I think Walt's story really demonstrates how easy is it is for a "good" person to get caught up in unethical behavior that can sprial out of control.
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