US government probes WorldCom on evading access fees

US government probes WorldCom on evading access fees

WASHINGTON, July 27 (Xinhua) — US Justice Department is investigating allegations the WorldCom Inc. improperly rerouted long- distance calls in the United States and Canada to evade paying hundreds of millions dollars in access fees to other phone companies, The New York Times reported on Sunday.

Investigators are looking into reports that MCI, the former WorldCom Inc., masked long-distance calls as local calls to avoid paying special-access fees to local carriers across the country, The paper reported, citing people involved in the probe.

The fees are the largest single source of MCI’s costs for carrying calls and transmitting data, according to the paper.

The investigation is based on internal documents and information from former MCI executives and three other telephone companies: AT&T, SBC Communications and Verizon.

MCI received a subpoena recently ordering it to turn over documents and other materials although MCI officials said that the allegations were unfounded.

WorldCom Inc., which merged with MCI in 1999, changed its name to MCI earlier this year in a bid to restore its credibility after US investigators uncovered an accounting fraud of 11 billion US dollars, forcing it to file for bankruptcy last year.