Cynthia Cooper played a crucial role at MCI (previously WorldCom) as the Vice President of Internal Audit. In 2002, she and her audit team secretly investigated and uncovered a massive $3.8 billion accounting fraud, which was the largest corporate fraud in U.S. history at that time. This fraud involved the improper classification of operating expenses as capital expenditures, significantly inflating the company's profits. Cooper's findings led to the firing of WorldCom's CFO, public disclosure of the fraud, and the company's subsequent bankruptcy filing. She stayed with MCI for two years after the scandal to help the company emerge from bankruptcy successfully. Her courageous actions as a whistleblower earned her recognition as one of Time magazine's Persons of the Year in 2002

. In summary, Cynthia Cooper's role was:

• Vice President of Internal Audit at WorldCom/MCI
• Led the internal audit team that uncovered the $3.8 billion fraud
• Whistleblower who brought the fraud to the attention of the board and public
• Assisted MCI in recovering and emerging from bankruptcy after the scandal