Jury acquits Scrushy

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Tuesday, June 28, 2005 | 10:56 a.m.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Jurors acquitted HealthSouth Corp. founder and fired Chief Executive Richard Scrushy today of all charges related to a $2.7 billion earnings overstatement at the rehabilitation and medical services chain.

Scrushy had been charged with fraud, false corporate reporting and making false statements to regulators. He was the first CEO charged under the Sarbanes-Oxley corporate reporting law.

Scrushy blamed the massive accounting scheme on subordinates including all five finance chiefs who served under him at HealthSouth.

In all, 15 former HealthSouth executives have pleaded guilty since 2003, when the scandal erupted publicly and drove the company to the brink of bankruptcy.