Global Crossing denies deception

Officials of the bankrupt fiber optics giant Global Crossing denied on Thursday that deceptive accounting practices were part of their company's financial collapse. "Global Crossing is no Enron," they told skeptical lawmakers.

"Some may see superficial similarities between Enron and Global Crossing," chief executive officer John Legere and chief financial officer Dan Cohrs said in a statement to a House Financial Services Committee panel.

Indeed, they noted that, like the energy trading corporation, Global Crossing had seen a collapse in its stock price, had had executive stock sales and had faced questions about accounting procedures and employee pension plans. The companies also shared the auditor Arthur Andersen.