The federal government on Wednesday said it lifted a ban that prevented telephone and data company MCI from receiving federal contracts because of its historic accounting scandal.
The U.S. General Services Administration banned the company from receiving new contracts and extensions of existing ones while GSA reviewed whether a longer suspension was warranted because of MCI's lapses in ethics and internal controls.
"We have removed them from excluded parties list but we are continuing to monitor the company via an administrative agreement," said GSA spokeswoman Mary Alice Johnson.
The Ashburn, Virginia-based company filed for bankruptcy in 2002 after revealing accounting irregularities that have now amounted to about $11 billion. MCI, whose legal name is WorldCom, hopes to emerge from bankruptcy soon.
