A former top executive in bankrupt energy giant Enron’s finance division today admitted money laundering and wire fraud when he appeared in a Texas court.

A top lieutenant to Enron’s former chief financial officer will today plead guilty to criminal charges, sources close to the investigation in the US said.

The US government has set a deadline of August 14 for many of the nation’s largest companies to submit sworn statements from their chief executive and chief financial officers guaranteeing the accuracy of recent financial reports, in an unprecedented move to help restore investor confidence.

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.

WorldCom is planning to file for bankruptcy protection, according to its chief executive.

A watchdog group says it will file a shareholders lawsuit against US Vice President Dick Cheney and his former employer, Halliburton, claiming they engaged in accounting fraud.

President George Bush called for stiff new penalties for corporate criminals and a crackdown on boardroom scandals today.

WorldCom's former chairman has refused to answer questions from a congressional panel investigating accounting irregularities at the company.

INVOKING his Fifth Amendment right, WorldCom's former chairman refused to answer questions yesterday from a congressional panel investigating nearly $4 billion in accounting irregularities at the telecommunications giant.

US regulators have given WorldCom until Monday to provide details of how £2.5 billion of expenses were hidden from shareholders.

US regulators have given WorldCom until Monday to provide details of how €3.8bn of expenses were hidden from shareholders.

Irish stocks have fallen by 3% in morning trading in the wake of revelations of massive fraud at another major US company.

An investigation by US telecommunications giant WorldCom’s board of directors uncovered nearly $3.8bn (€3.83bn) in improperly booked expenses, the company said, revealing what appears to be among the largest cases ever of accounting fraud.

Former Big Five accounting firm Arthur Andersen LLP was convicted of obstructing justice by destroying tonnes of documents related to its former client, Enron Corp.

Arthur Andersen was convicted today of obstruction of justice by shredding Enron-related documents.

Arthur Andersen has been refused permission to have its trial on criminal obstruction charges for shredding tons of Enron documents delayed.

The Arthur Andersen auditor who oversaw Enron's books has pleaded guilty in the US to ordering the shredding of Enron documents.

A senior Arthur Andersen auditor today pleaded guilty to a criminal obstruction charge, acknowledging that he persuaded co-workers and others to shred documents to thwart the US government’s investigation into the collapse of energy giant Enron.

Arthur Andersen's chief executive says his firm will fight charges that it obstructed justice in relation to the collapse of Enron.

A US federal grand jury today indicted the Arthur Andersen accounting firm in the Enron scandal, the first criminal charges in the biggest bankruptcy in the US.

Former Enron chairman Kenneth Lay, who has been summoned to testify before the US Congress tomorrow, will assert his right against self-incrimination and refuse to answer questions, his spokeswoman has said.

The former Enron chairman gave the White House recommendations for appointments to a federal energy commission last spring.

The British government was today facing demands for an inquiry into the Labour Party’s links with the collapsed US energy giant Enron and its accountants Arthur Andersen.

The auditor sacked following the collapse of Enron denies any wrongdoing.

Two members of US President George W Bush’s Cabinet said they never considered intervening in Enron’s spiral toward bankruptcy, nor did they inform the president of requests for help from the fallen energy giant.