Global Crossing executives to testify to Congress on bankruptcy's effect

Global Crossing Ltd.'s chief executive and chief financial officer will testify before the House of Representatives this week about how the company's bankruptcy has affected workers, investors,

Monday, March 18th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Global Crossing Ltd.'s chief executive and chief financial officer will testify before the House of Representatives this week about how the company's bankruptcy has affected workers, investors, and financial markets.

Chief executive John Legere and CFO Dan Cohrs are scheduled to appear Thursday before the Committee on Financial Service's Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, the company said Sunday.

In letters to Legere and Cohrs, Rep. Sue Kelly, R-N.Y., said the hearing would ``examine the effects of the Global Crossing bankruptcy on investors, financial markets, and employees.''

Global Crossing filed the fourth-largest Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization case in history on Jan. 28. It listed $12.4 billion in debts.

Global Crossing, formally based in Bermuda but managed out of offices in Beverly Hills, Calif., spent $15 billion over five years building a 100,000-mile fiber-optic network. Its fortunes declined last year amid weak demand for bandwidth and investors' concerns about its debts.

Last month, Global Crossing offered its U.S. employees lump-sum payments to leave the company by March 8.

Also Sunday, New York State Comptroller H. Carl McCall said his office planned to sue Global Crossing over losses suffered by New York state's $112 billion public pension fund.

McCall is sole trustee of the New York state public employees pension fund, which lost $63 million in Global Crossing's collapse.