WASHINGTON, July 20 (AFP) - Two and a half years after the spectacular collapse of Global Crossing, the US government said Tuesday it had recovered 79 million dollars for workers who lost money invested in the company's pension plan.
Many Global Crossing employees invested their pensions in the company's stock before it filed for bankruptcy protection in January of 2002.
"It has to be approved by the court, we need to seek the approval of the court in that, but it's a settlement of numerous private cases and the Department of Labor has been involved in that," said Deputy Labor Secretary Stephen Law.
The 79 million includes 25 million recovered from former Global Crossing chairman and founder Gary Winnick. Insurance companies that had insured the pension plan are expected to make up the remainder of the payment, according to Law.
Global Crossing's collapse became one of the most high-profile corporate failures in US history coming hot on the heels of the implosion of energy giant Enron.
Global Crossing, a symbol of the telecom boom and bust, emerged from bankruptcy last year under control of Singapore Technologies Telemedia.