Former senior WorldCom executive has pleaded guilty to securities fraud. Mr David Myers, the company's former comptroller, told a federal court in Manhattan he was told by "senior management" to falsify records.
It is the first admission of guilt in what is the largest corporate accounting scandal in US history.
Prosecutors say Mr Myers and former chief financial officer Mr Scott Sullivan directed employees to falsify balance sheets to hide more than $3.8 billion in expenses.
The deception enabled WorldCom to report a profit when it was actually losing money, according to regulators. Mr Myers faces up to 10 years on the most serious charge.
WorldCom has revised the amount of accounting improprieties up to $7.1 billion, and recent reports say the final total may reach $9 billion.
Prosecutors say the fraud began when Mr Myers and Mr Sullivan ordered WorldCom accounting executives to record billions in operating expenses as capital expenses.
Mr Sullivan was indicted a month after the bankruptcy filing on securities fraud charges.
The cooperation of Mr Myers and others may increase the pressure on Mr Sullivan to strike a deal with prosecutors and tell them what, if anything, former WorldCom CEO Mr Bernard Ebbers knew about the alleged accounting crimes.
AP