Greed on Trial

Ex-Tyco chief executive, Dennis Kozlowski, is to appear in a Manhattan court today, accused of stealing $600 million from Tyco and its investors to support his obscenely lavish lifestyle. Kozlowski is the first executive from recent corporate scandals to face accusers in court, the New York Times reports today.

It's a big test, said John J. Fahy, a former federal and New Jersey prosecutor. If Kozlowski wins, then prosecutors might be reluctant to go after other executives accused of corporate malfeasance.

Let's hope the court wins. After doing a quick search on corporate scandals, it's obvious that there certainly wouldn't be a shortage of executives to put on the stand. Here's a list of links to some of the resources I found.

Good links to some of the more notable scandals in the past two years:

Enron:
Houstonchronicle.com's four-part series and "Making Sense of It All" offer a comprehensive look at Enron's wrongdoings.

WorldCom:
CNNmoney.com's "WorldCom's Financial Bomb"

WorldCom's hometown news headlines from the Clarionledger.com

WorldCom weblog

Adelphia:
CorporateLibrary.com's Spotlight Topic: Adelphia Scandal

These resources offer short takes and news on a slew of corporate scandals:

CorporateLibrary.com's Corporate Scandal Quick Sheet offers an up-to-date round-up of the latest news.

Citzenworks.org offers a Corporate Scandal Sheet (though it was last updated in May 2003) and suggestions for how ordinary, law-abiding citizens can Take Action to expose and prevent corporate wrongdoing.