A significant development in the US government's criminal case against former WorldCom Inc chief financial officer Scott Sullivan is likely to be announced in the next few hours, according to sources close to the case.

WorldCom Inc executives earned $104m (€107m) in salaries, bonuses, and share sales even as the bankrupt telecoms group was using questionable accounting techniques to inflate its earnings by billions of dollars, the Financial Times reported in its online edition, without citing sources.

WorldCom Inc has uncovered a further €2 billion in fraudulent accounting in financial reports filed for 1999 and 2000, CNBC reported, citing people close to the matter.

WorldCom Inc bank lenders have failed in their efforts to recover the $2.65bn (€2.67bn) they were owed by the company after a New York judge rejected their request to impose a temporary restraining order against WorldCom, the Financial Times reported in its online edition, citing sources.

Mel Dick, the engagement partner responsible for Arthur Andersen LLP's audit of troubled telecommunications company WorldCom Inc, said he had no knowledge that senior WorldCom executives were allegedly manipulating its accounts to boost profits.

WorldCom Inc, the second largest long-distance telecom company in the United States, has laid off about 6,000 workers in a bid to cut expenses and increase profits.