The founder of US cable television giant Adelphia Communications was arrested today along with two of his sons and accused of looting the now-bankrupt company and using it as their ‘‘personal piggy bank.’’

WorldCom, the US telecoms giant, became the biggest bankrupt in history today, but the company’s chief executive said it would have no effect on the company’s customers.

Persistent worries about corporate accounting scandals sent stock prices sharply lower again today as a new probe into the books of WorldCom worsened an already dismal climate of distrust in corporate America.