Richard Scrushy
Richard Marin Scrushy (born 1952 in Selma) is the founder and former chairman and chief executive officer of the Birmingham-based physical rehabilitation healthcare giant HealthSouth..
Scrushy recognized an unfilled niche in the specialty healthcare services industry and founded HealthSouth in 1984, He became chairman and chief executive officer in 1994 when the company went public. The company enjoyed rapid growth, largely credited to illegal accounting practices which were the subject of criminal proceedings. HealthSouth is known to have reported $1.4 billion in false earnings, representing more than ten percent of the company's total assets.
Scrushy attended Wallace State Community College in Hanceville, and Jefferson State Community College in Birmingham. He graduated in 1974 with a degree in respiratory therapy from the UAB, after which he became first an instructor, and the director of the program. He left academia to work for the Houston, Texas based Lifemark Corporation, where he stayed until founding HealthSouth in 1984.
Lifestyle
Scrushy has long been known for his flamboyant lifestyle.
Accounting fraud
Acquittal
In 2003 Scrushy was accused of fraud by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for directing company officers to falsify financial records in order to have the company's earnings statements meet stockholder expectations. He was the first CEO to be charged under the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Scrushy was terminated by HealthSouth's board in the wake of the accounting scandal and many of his personal assets were seized by federal investigators.
In 2005, after 21 days of jury deliberation, Scrushy was acquitted on all 36 counts of fraud and conspiracy.
New charges
On October 26, 2005, Scrushy was indicted on additional charges of bribery and mail fraud in connection with former governor Don Siegelman. Two former Siegelman aides were also charged in the indictment. In December, 2005, Scrushy and Siegelman were indicted on conspiracy and mail fraud charges alleging that they conspired to give HealthSouth membership and influence over a state hospital regulatory board.
Ministry
References
- SEC litigation release
- Birmingham News special report
- USA Today story on Scrushy's television show
- Scrushy bio at Referenceforbusiness.com
- "Richard M. Scrushy." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 7 Mar 2006, 19:34 UTC. 22 Mar 2006, 16:17 [1].