Thornburgh approved as WorldCom examiner

WASHINGTON, Aug. 7 (UPI) -- Former U.S. Attorney General Dick Thornburgh has been approved as examiner in the WorldCom bankruptcy, the Justice Department announced Wednesday.

As examiner, Thornburgh will investigate a variety of allegations against the embattled long-distance carrier, which in July declared the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history.

Thornburgh was formally appointed as examiner by the Justice Department, through the U.S. trustee in New York, on Aug. 1. His appointment was approved Tuesday night by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan.

Thornburgh is authorized to investigate any allegations of fraud, dishonesty, incompetence, misconduct, mismanagement or irregularity in the arrangement of the affairs of any of the debtors by current or former management at WorldCom.

Unless granted an extension by the court, Thornburgh must file a report within 90 days of his appointment.

Attorney General John Ashcroft praised Thornburgh's appointment in a prepared statement.

"The examiner's appointment will help protect WorldCom's creditors and shareholders by bringing transparency to these cases and ensuring that issues of possible mismanagement and civil fraud are thoroughly investigated," Ashcroft said. "I am pleased that Dick Thornburgh, a person of integrity and independent stature, has agreed to take on this task. I am confident that he will examine carefully all the facts and file with the court a report that will help bring these cases to an appropriate resolution."

Thornburgh is currently with the national law firm Kirkpatrick & Lockhart LLP in Washington.

He served as President George H.W. Bush's attorney general from 1988 to 1991, and as under-secretary-general at the United Nations from 1992 to 1993.

He was a two-term governor of Pennsylvania, elected first in 1978 and again in 1982.

Thornburgh also headed the Justice Department's Criminal Division from 1975 to 1977, and served as U.S. attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania from 1969 to 1975.

Based in Clinton, Miss., WorldCom is the nation's second-largest long-distance and data services company.

It filed for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code after acknowledging $3.85 billion in accounting mistakes and a much larger debt than formerly revealed -- $30 billion.

WorldCom has said it hopes to erase three-quarters of that debt during a year of reorganization.