Stolen Without A Gun: Confessions from inside history's biggest accounting fraud - the collapse of MCI Worldcom » (New Edition)

Walter Pavlo, Jr. oversaw a $2 billion operation at MCI Communications before being caught embezzling $6 million. Since his 2003 prison release, Pavlo has made his living giving cautionary speeches on his crimes and the environment that bred them. His audiences have included the FBI, universities, professional societies and corporations. He has been featured in Forbes, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, USA Today and on ABC's Nightline. Pavlo holds engineering and MBA degrees. Neil Weinberg is a Senior Editor at Forbes in New York. A fifteen-year veteran of the magazine, he has covered Wall Street, telecom and Asia. Weinberg originally profiled Pavlo's crimes in Forbes after receiving a letter from him in prison. In 2006 he received the Overseas Press Club's annual award for the best business story in a magazine. Weinberg holds a bachelor's degree in English Literature and an MBA.

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.

About the Authors     xiii
Acknowledgments     xv
Foreword     xix
Preface     xxi
Author's Note     xxv
Diesel Therapy     31
Big Time     39
Reach Out and Touch Yourself     47
Biting Heads Off Chickens     53
Hedge Hopping     59
Making the Numbers     67
Target Man     73
Change of Command     81
Young Turks     87
Solutions Provider     101
Putting the Cat on the Roof     111
Don't Worry Baby     123
Hog Sty Bay     131
This Could Be Ugly     143
A Good Back Waxing     151
Dead On Arrival     161
Scamming the Scammers     167
The Mac Daddy Card     181
It's All A Lie     193
Everyone's Nasdaqable     203
Die Like An Aviator!     213
The Bert and Bernie Show     221
Tidying Things Up     229
Bring a Bazooka     237
The End of the World     251
People Like Me     259
Epilogue     265
Where Are TheyNow?     267
Endnotes     269
Select Bibliography     285