Judge approves WorldCom settlement

A United States judge today approved a $750m (€662m) settlement between US regulators and WorldCom, saying a substantially heavier fine for a corporate accounting fraud scandal would “unfairly penalise” the company’s 50,000 employees.

Although the fine in the $11bn (€9.7bn) case was $250m (€220mm) higher than originally proposed, Judge Jed Rakoff of Manhattan said that driving the telecommunications company out of business was not the goal.