money than God, several hundred million dollars or more, what could a person's motivation to break the rules be? Are we all just a human being? Could it be because of pride, honor, insanity, ego, or greed? Or did they do it because they are lazy and took the easy way out? Only those who do it truly know. This paper reviews a case of that nature, an extremely rich person, who did not realistically need more money, but committed illegal and immoral activities to gain wealth. The amazing thing about the story is that at the same time, in the same company, a planned and executed accounting scheme was being executed to cook the books and make the company appear profitable. This doesn't make sense on any level.
             This report examines three things. The actions of the WorldCom executives who unethically and illegally cooked the books and made the company look profitable. Second it examines how the CEO unethically used the company for personal gain. Lastly it looks at how one person lead a team of employees in an ethical fashion and exposed unethical behavior.
             Everybody knows what illegal means, and most illegal behavior is also unethical. But what does unethical mean? The dictionary gives the definition as:
             "Not conforming to approved standards of social or professional behavior; "unethical business practices": not adhering to ethical or moral principles."
             In the accounting profession the guidelines for ethical behavior are clearly stated in the Institute of Management Accountant's (IMA) Standards of Ethical Conduct for Practitioners of Management Accounting and Financial Management (hereto referred to as the IMA's SECPMAFM). It is made up of two parts; the first part provides guidelines for ethical behavior, and the second outlines actions for resolution of violations found in part one. Part one has four areas; competence, confidentiality, integrity, and objectivity. At WorldCom violati...