University alumnus Aaron Beam, who was convicted of business fraud in 2005, spoke to University students Friday about his success and failure as former CFO of HealthSouth Corporation.Beam, EJ Ourso College of Business Hall of Distinction Member, advised students to be aware of and avoid unethical business no matter what the pressure.Beam recounted his experience working under Richard Scrushy, former head of the outpatient-therapy company  HealthSouth Corporation, which was successful in the early ’90s before the company turned to fraudulent activity in 1996. “I just met the most brilliant young businessman I’ll ever meet— or possibly a young con-man,” said Beam of his first meeting with Scrushy. Scrushy and Beam established HealthSouth Corporation in 1984 after Life Mark Corporation, their former employer, merged with AMI. HealthSouth succeeded from the beginning, going public two years after its formation. Beam recalled initial investments as “borderline inappropriate” from the beginning.”It taught Richard that accounting is flexible,” said Beam.Scrushy was an aggresive salesman, and Beam said the company would never have gone public without him.By 1994, HealthSouth Corporation was the largest company in Alabama. It operated in all 50 states and held a place on the Fortune 500 list.”I was a rockstar,” said Beam, recalling the his life of private planes and fancy cars. Beam is an avid LSU fan, and at the height of his success, he recreated Tiger Stadium in his backyard in Alabama. He called the field “Tiger Stadium East” and dreamed of having the LSU football team practice there someday. As the industry expanded, there were fewer companies to buy out. HealthSouth was unable to maintain its initial success and the company began stretching numbers and changing estimates for bad debts. Uncomfortable with the companies activites, Beam retired from the company in 1997. In 2003, the Federal Governemnt accused HealthSouth of $2.5 billion in fraud.”The only sensible thing I could do was tell the truth,” said Beam. He served as first witness in the trial against Scrushy, who had long vowed to deny everything if caught. Beam described Scrushy’s lawyers as “brutal.” Beam sad Scrushy spent more than $20 million on laywers and also bought a TV station where he broadcasted himself preaching at an inner-city church.The five-month trial in 2005 found Scrushy not guilty but Beam and three other CFOs guilty. Beam spent 3 months in federal minimum security prison. Beam now travels the country speaking about his experiences and how to avoid a similar situation.Beam majored in Economics while at LSU and went back to school in Accounting later. He said he feels like he was similar to most students in being uncertain of his future goals, but recalls an interest in Chemistry. – – – -Contact Grace Montgomery at [email protected]