Convicted former WorldCom CEO Ebbers dead at 78

Bernard Ebbers, the former WorldCom Inc chief executive convicted in one of the largest U.S. accounting scandals, died on Sunday, his family said in a statement.

Ebbers, 78, a one-time milkman became known as an exacting, cost-obsessed boss, was released from prison in December because of his deteriorating health.

He had served about 13-1/4 years of a 25-year prison term for orchestrating an $11 billion fraud that led to his now-defunct telecommunications company’s 2002 bankruptcy, at the time the largest Chapter 11 case in U.S. history.

In a court filing in September, Ebbers’ lawyers said their client was legally blind, suffered from a heart ailment and anemia, had lost 40 lb (18 kg) in a little over a year, and had become incapable of walking regularly for exercise. // <\/s'+'cript>'); // --> //]]> From ICE