If your long-distance provider is MCI, WorldCom, or Onvoy, you might as well be!
Chalk one up to the D.A., and AT&T for going after the rat finks!
The kicker is that AT&T never would have known about it if the New York D.A. hadn't told them. Kudos to the new breed of D.A.!
AT&T Sues MCI, Onvoy for RacketeeringSept. 2
— WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Telephone company
AT&T Corp. on Tuesday filed a civil lawsuit in federal court against telecommunications rivals MCI and Onvoy Inc., accusing them of scheming to improperly route calls through Canada and on to AT&T's network to avoid expensive connection fees. "The lawsuit alleges, among other claims,
fraud, civil conspiracy, unjust enrichment, racketeering conspiracy and substantive racketeering through a pattern of multiple acts of mail fraud and wire fraud," AT&T said in a statement.
AT&T charged bankrupt MCI and Onvoy were still engaged in misconduct, and said it learned of the claims it was now making against the two companies as a result of a federal grand jury investigation.
Representatives for MCI and Onvoy had no immediate comment. The No. 1 U.S. long-distance carrier said
it was seeking damages from MCI after it emerges from bankruptcy protection, which is expected later this year. MCI filed for bankruptcy last year after being rocked by an accounting scandal that has now reached $11 billion. And in my opinion is dragging AT&T and other telcom providers down with it! The
U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, along with communications regulators, has been probing whether MCI, which is legally known as WorldCom Inc., improperly routed calls or hid details to avoid hefty fees.The lawsuit also accused
MCI of conspiring to force AT&T to pay fees by connecting long-distance telephone calls that started on MCI's network, rerouted through Canada and then back on to MCI's network.
"AT&T alleges that
MCI/WorldCom should have properly kept the telephone traffic on its own network and been responsible for terminating access fees, if any, via intra-company transfers," AT&T said in its statement.
