By Alabama Public Radio
Birmingham, AL – The prosecution opened its case against Richard Scrushy Tuesday by telling jurors Scrushy was the driving force behind HealthSouth's massive accounting scandal. U-S Attorney Alice Martin says employees made fake financial statements to make it appear the company was meeting economic forecasts. She says the fraud occurred from 1996 through 2002, and Martin says Scrushy never revealed the company's true financial condition. Scrushy's defense team said told jurors Scrushy was not
part of the scheme. The defense also says it expects prosecutors to call all five of HealthSouth's former chief financial officers. They have already agreed to plead guilty in the case.