Washington, July 20: The US House Energy and Commerce Committee on Friday asked for more information from WorldCom Inc. after the panel said a first batch of documents turned over showed that the accounting scandal engulfing the company may go back to 2000. In the first five boxes of documents provided by the embattled telecommunications company, the committee said 2001 company e-mails showed executives tried to manipulate earnings to meet Wall Street expectations.

Additionally company officials discussed in 2000 accounting for excess network capacity as long-term investments rather than immediate expenses, spreading out the effects of costs on earnings, the panel's chairman, Rep. Billy Tauzin, has said. Greenwood, a Pennsylvania Republican, heads the panel's subcommittee on oversight and investigations. Tauzin said earlier this week that the committee is conducting interviews with witnesses "who indicate to us that the problems may go back as far as 1999, not just the year 2000."
Bureau Report