NATION

NATION
Federal prosecutors probeaccusations against MCI
WASHINGTON -- Federal prosecutors are delving into nearly a decade of alleged misconduct by MCI to determine if the telephone company defrauded competitors by disguising long-distance calls as local ones, lawyers and others familiar with the probe say.
The investigation involves MCI's alleged avoidance of charges it is supposed to pay local phone companies.
The allegations surfaced in the past eight to 10 weeks when a former MCI employee called the FBI and disclosed the arrangement, said two lawyers familiar with the events.
In this arrangement, MCI phone traffic is allegedly routed north of the U.S. border and then dumped onto the network of AT & amp;T.
MCI says competitors, some of whom it beat out for government business, are behind all the criticism. Its parent, WorldCom, filed for bankruptcy in July 2002, citing massive accounting irregularities.
Associated Press