Oklahoma charges against former MCI CEO are delayed

<br>(Oklahoma City-AP) -- Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson is delaying refiling fraud charges against former WorldCom chief executive Bernard Ebbers. <br><br>Edmondson says he'll meet with

Tuesday, March 30th 2004, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

(Oklahoma City-AP) -- Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson is delaying refiling fraud charges against former WorldCom chief executive Bernard Ebbers.

Edmondson says he'll meet with a federal prosecutor this week to discuss a joint trial strategy in the state and federal cases against Ebbers.

Edmondson charged Ebbers, five other former WorldCom officials and the bankrupt company last August with 15 counts each of defrauding state investors.

The charges against Ebbers were dismissed in December with Edmondson saying he didn't want to interfere with federal prosecutors. Edmondson said he would later reinstate the charges.

WorldCom now operates as MCI and reached a deal to create 1,600 new jobs in Tulsa in exchange for charges against the company being dismissed.