Bernard Ebbers has pleaded innocent to charges he committed one of the most massive corporate frauds in U.S. history as CEO of WorldCom Inc.

Ebbers, the Canadian-born founder and former chief executive of the telecommunications company, surrendered to the FBI earlier today, one day after the U.S. government announced charges against him.

U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft listed the charges as conspiracy to commit securities fraud, securities fraud and making false statements about the financial health of WorldCom.

Ebbers' co-defendant and WorldCom's former chief financial officer, Scott Sullivan, pleaded guilty Tuesday in a New York court to similar charges, and has agreed to a plea deal that will see him testify against Ebbers.

Sullivan is facing a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison, but his plea deal may allow for a reduction in jail time. His sentencing is set for June 2.

"I deeply regret my actions and sincerely apologize for the harm they have caused," Sullivan told the judge.

Reid Weingarten, Ebbers' lawyer, has said he was disappointed at the charges which indicted the two men.

"Bernie Ebbers never sought to mislead investors, never sought to improperly manipulate WorldCom's numbers, never improperly took any money and never sought to hurt the company he built," he told The Associated Press Tuesday.

The indictment alleges that between September 2000 and June 2002, Ebbers and Sullivan and their co-conspirators purposely tried to "deceive members of the investing public, WorldCom shareholders, professional securities analysts and the Securities and Exchange Commission, and others," Ashcroft said Tuesday.

He said the indictment alleges that in or around September 2000, Ebbers, Sullivan and others knew that WorldCom's true operating performance was in decline and had fallen well below analysts' expectations.

"It is alleged that Ebbers nevertheless insisted that WorldCom report financial results publicly that met analysts expectations," Ashcroft said.

Sullivan, with Ebbers' approval, directed co-conspirators to make false and fraudulent adjustments to WorldCom's books and records that resulted in falsely inflated earnings, the indictment alleges.

Ebbers, who was born in Edmonton, resigned from WorldCom in April 2002. Two months later, the company announced it had uncovered nearly $4 billion US in hidden expenses. That number is now estimated at close to $11 billion.

WorldCom, now known as MCI, filed for bankruptcy on July 21, 2002.

Ebbers, Sullivan and four other former executives were charged in Oklahoma last year with violating state securities laws in an accounting fraud prosecutors say cost state pension funds $64 million.

Charges against Ebbers were dropped in November to make it easier to prosecute Sullivan, whose trial is set to start next month.

Oklahoma's attorney general plans to refile against Ebbers after Sullivan's trial is complete later this year.