Adelphia Accounting Chief Pleads Guilty

The former accounting director for bankrupt cable company Adelphia Communications reportedly pleaded guilty Friday in a settlement that could strengthen the government's case against the Rigas family.

Timothy Werth entered the plea in a New York district court a day after John Rigas, the company's founder, learned that his trial would begin next January, according to the Associated Press. Werth pleaded guilty to securities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud, the AP reported. Werth and two other members of the Rigas family, along with another former executive, were indicted last year in one of the largest corporate frauds in U.S. history.

It is alleged that company executives secretly funneled hundreds of millions of dollars of company funds into accounts controlled by the Rigas family. The government is seeking forfeiture of more than $2.5 billion for the alleged fraud and corporate looting.

In November, James Brown, the former vice president of finance as well as Werth's boss, pleaded guilty in the case, admitting that he manipulated and overstated earnings to fool the investment community into thinking Adelphia was doing well while it racked up massive off-the-book debts.