No SEC charges for Global Crossing?s ex-head

Gary Winnick, the former chairman of Global Crossing, the Bermuda-based telecommunications group which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January 2002, will not be fined or sanctioned by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, according to his lawyer.

The SEC has been considering what action to take against Mr Winnick, Joe Perrone, a former Global Crossing finance executive, and Dan Cohrs who was the company's chief financial officer, as part of its three-year investigation of Global Crossing which was accused of overstated revenue by swapping fiber- optic network capacity with phone carriers, including Qwest Communications International.

While the SEC declined to comment on its investigations on Monday, Gary Naftalis, a lawyer representing Mr Winnick, said, "We are gratified that after a thorough and complete investigation with which we fully cooperated the SEC has determined that no charges should be brought against Gary Winnick. We always believed that the evidence demonstrated that Gary Winnick acted lawfully and properly in connection with Global Crossing."

Global Crossing amassed $12bn in liabilities building a 100,000-mile fiber-optic network across the globe at the height of the telecommunications boom. It filed for Chapter 11 protection after demand for the network from corporate users fell sharply wiping out about $40bn in stock-market value. Mr Winnick sold shares worth more than $578m before the filling.

Last month a federal judge approved a $325 million settlement of a fraud suit by Global Crossing investors, who accused Mr Winnick, Mr Perrone, Mr Cohrs and others of inflating the company's results. Mr Winnick's portion of the settlement was $55m, including $25m that wasn't covered by insurance.