Former MCI World Com exec, imprisoned after finance scam, to speak on business ethics Feb. 20

February 5, 2007

Walter Pavlo, a former MCI WorldCom executive imprisoned for his role in a finance scam, will speak on business ethics at the University of Richmond Feb. 20 at 3:30 p.m. at the School of Law's Moot Court Room. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Pavlo will relate how he became embroiled in one of the biggest corporate scandals while an MCI senior manager. He will warn businesspeople faced with ethical decisions that even one small step across the line of honesty can lead to dire consequences.

"It will be eye-opening to hear firsthand about the unethical pressures executives faced and, unfortunately, can succumb to," said Jorge Haddock, dean of the university's Robins School of Business, a co-sponsor of the program.

In January 2001, in cooperation with the federal government, Pavlo pled guilty to wire fraud and money laundering and entered federal prison shortly thereafter. His story details the corrupt dealings, foreign bank accounts and manipulation of financial records that can occur within large corporations. His case appeared as a cover story in the June 10, 2002, issue of Forbes Magazine, only weeks before MCI WorldCom divulged that it had more than $7 billion in accounting irregularities.

The lecture is co-sponsored by the Robins School of Business, Jepson School of Leadership Studies, T.C. Williams School of Law and the Financial Executives Institute. For more information, contact Julie Ehlers at (804) 289-8016.