HealthSouth Civil Lawsuit Seeks $2.6B From Scrushy

HealthSouth also bought $60 million worth of computers from a company fronted by Scrushy's parents, Haley said.

McNamee depicted Scrushy as a dynamic CEO with little background in finance, a leader who was betrayed by the 15 people who pleaded guilty to federal charges of participating in crimes at HealthSouth.

"There is no evidence from any document that Richard knew anything about it," he said. Scrushy repaid the company for many of the flights and other perks he received, McNamee said.

Testimony could last two weeks, but it's unclear when Scrushy will take the stand. He was held at a Birmingham-area jail awaiting his turn.

Pushed to the edge of bankruptcy once the deception was uncovered six years ago, HealthSouth now operates in 26 states. It calls itself the largest U.S. provider of inpatient rehabilitation services with hospitals, outpatient rehabilitation offices and home health services.