Securities: Supreme Court Won't Hear Ebbers' Appeal

Bernard Ebbers, the former WorldCom Inc. chief executive accused of fraud, lost his bid to appeal his case to the U.S. Supreme Court. Ebbers' appeal was turned away without comment from the justices. Ebbers had said that his case was not fairly tried because the government would not allow three WorldCom employees to testify as defense witnesses by giving them immunity from prosecution. Ebbers currently is serving a 25-year prison sentence for his role in the $11 billion fraud scheme.

Supreme Court won't hear appeal by Ebbers

Ebbers attorneys said that in not allowing the WorldCom witnesses, Ebbers was "prevented from offering crucial evidence in his defense." Ebbers' case is a high profile conviction in the government's ongoing corporate-fraud crackdown. WorldCom lost more than $180 billion in stock market value before it filed for bankruptcy in July 2002.