They took people for a ride

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: The most high profile corporate fraud cases in recent history centre around Tyco International, WorldCom and Enron, multi billion dollar corporations whose names and reputations were marred by the fraudulent actions of its chief executives who were convicted and sentenced to lengthy prison terms.

Corporate frauds

Tyco

Former CEO Dennis Kozlowski, who headed the company from 1992 to 2002, was convicted in 2005 of misappropriating more than $400 million of company funds and is currently serving at least eight years and four months in prison in the United States for his role in the scandal

WorldCom

Co-founder and former CEO of telecommunications company WorldCom, Canadian born Bernie Ebbers was convicted of fraud and conspiracy in the largest accounting scandal to date in US history back in 2005. The company’s false financial reporting caused a subsequent loss to investors amounting to $11 billion. Ebbers is serving a 25 year prison sentence in the US state of Louisiana. In 1999, Forbes Magazine estimated his worth at $1.4 billion

Enron

Kenneth Lay, the former chairman of the board and CEO and Jeffrey Skilling, former CEO and COO, went on trial for their part in the Enron scandal in January 2006, that led to the downfall of the company. It admitted on November 8, 2001 for overstationg its earnings by $600 million in previous 4 years. Lay and Skilling were indicted for securities and wire fraud in July 2004, leading to a highly-publicised trial in which Lay was convicted on all six counts and Skilling on 19 of 28 counts on May 25, 2006. On July 5, 2006, Lay died at age 64 while vacationing in Colorado, after suffering a heart attack on July 4. Skilling was convicted and sentenced to 24 years, 4 months in a federal prison on October 23, 2006. As well as his sentence of 24 years, 4 months, he was ordered to restore the Enron pension fund with $26 million out-of-pocket . In addition, the scandal caused the dissolution of Arthur Andersen, which at the time was one of the five largest accounting firms in the world

Targus Group International

CFO William Lloyd was indicted in California in 2001 on 25 counts of wire fraud, money laundering and aiding and abetting. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 37 months in prison and was ordered to pay $18,000 in restitution

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