WorldCom Lashes Back at AT

WorldCom Inc. officials said Monday that an internal investigation found no evidence of wrongdoing and lashed out at AT&T; Corp. for lobbing accusations that WorldCom had improperly routed domestic calls through Canada.

WorldCom said AT&T;’s accusations were part of a campaign to hurt WorldCom as it works to emerge from the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history.

“AT&T;’s filing makes sensational accusations wholly unsupported by evidence or law,” WorldCom said in a filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan.

The retort came a week after AT&T; claimed that it had evidence WorldCom was disguising codes on long-distance calls to route them through Canada, eventually sticking AT&T; with high access fees.

AT&T; said some of the calls were placed by the State Department and other government agencies, and it accused WorldCom of playing “fast and loose with our national interests.”

WorldCom -- brought down by an $11-billion accounting scandal -- is doing business under the brand name of its MCI long-distance division in a bid to clean up its image.

Congress, based on the alleged re-routing of calls, is examining whether WorldCom should remain a large federal contractor.