Author of ‘Stolen Without A Gun’ to Speak at UA; Former WorldCom Employee to Speak on White-Collar Crime

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration and the Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility at The University of Alabama will host a discussion with Walter “Walt” Pavlo at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 25 in the Ferguson Theater on campus.

The event is for the J. Craig Smith Lecture on Ethics and Social Responsibility.

Pavlo, a nationally recognized speaker, holds an engineering degree from West Virginia University and an MBA from the Stetson School of Business at Mercer University. He has worked for Goodyear Tire in its aerospace division as a financial analyst, GEC Ltd. of England as a contract manager, and as a senior manager in MCI Telecommunication’s division where he was responsible for billing and collections in its reseller division.

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 highlights the corrupt dealings involving the manipulation of financial records within a large corporation.

His case appeared as a cover story in the June 10, 2002 issue of Forbes, just weeks before WorldCom divulged that it had more than $7 billion in accounting irregularities. Pavlo’s story has been covered in the media by Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, ABC Nightline, Today Show and National Public Radio.

Pavlo is the co-author of “Stolen Without A Gun,” which chronicles his story of white-collar crime. The book, co-authored by Neil Weinberg, a senior editor at Forbes, has been met with critical acclaim by the Journal of Accountancy and Corporate Counsel magazine. Pavlo has been invited to speak on his experiences by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, major university MBA programs, corporations, and various professional societies.

This event will be the second in the J. Craig Smith Lectures series, following author Cynthia Cooper’s visit in April of last year. Organizers plan to hold the lecture series annually.

The Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration was established in 1919, and, in 1929, became the 38th school to earn admission into the American Association of Collegiate Schools of Business. The excellence of the UA business school has been acknowledged on a national level. The undergraduate program is ranked 29th among public universities by U.S. News, and the Culverhouse School of Accountancy is ranked 15th among public universities by U.S. News. The graduate accounting program is ranked 19th, and the undergraduate program 15th, by Public Accounting Report. The entrepreneurial program is ranked 20th nationally.

Editors note: Pavlo photo available by request