...the judge during the arraignment of former WorldCom chief financial officer Scott Sullivan and accounting executive Buford Yates Jr. Both men pleaded innocent to securities fraud charges; a pretrial hearing was scheduled for Dec. 9. Sullivan...

...conspiracy to hide operating expenses in order to boost WorldCom's earnings. The indictment also named a new defendant, Buford Yates Jr., WorldCom's former director of general accounting, in the alleged scheme.