Morgenstern was CEO of Rent Way when company president Jeffrey Conway, controller Matthew Marini and vice president Jeffrey Underwood conspired to inflate earnings.

Photo/RTO Online

The inaugural issue of RTO Magazine featured an interview with Bill Morgenstern.

Bill Morgenstern, former CEO of Rent Way, has been named CEO of Opportunity International, a company providing "...small business loans, savings, insurance and training to over people working their way out of poverty in the developing world." The company reports $799 million in assets worldwide with 1.2 million active loan clients.

Morgenstern was CEO of Rent Way, the second largest rent to own company in the U.S. at the time, when company president Jeffrey Conway, controller Matthew Marini and vice president Jeffrey Underwood conspired to cook the books - inflating Rent Way's earnings in 1998, 1999 and 2000.

Rent Way's stock price plunged 80% when the scandal broke in October 2000. Marini, Underwood and Conway were charged with fraud, convicted and received light sentences in 2003 after cooperating with prosecutors (see story).

After a lengthy investigation, prosecutors determined Morgenstern played no role in the accounting scandal but the company never recovered. Morgenstern stepped down as CEO in 2005 and Rent Way was eventually sold to chief rival Rent-A-Center for $567 million in 2006 (see story). At the time, Rent Way operated 784 stores in 34 states.