New York ? A judge appointed a former head of the Securities and Exchange Commission to act as the corporate monitor for WorldCom, telling him to “look into every nook and cranny” of the troubled company.

U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff tapped Richard Breeden, who was chairman of the SEC from 1989 to 1993, as the monitor in the SEC’s civil fraud suit against WorldCom over accounting improprieties.

WorldCom is struggling to avoid bankruptcy since announcing last week that it improperly accounted for nearly $4 billion in expenses, which inflated its financial results.

Breeden, who runs a company that tries to rescue failing companies, will be paid $800 an hour for his WorldCom work, the judge said.

His chief duties will be to prevent destruction of company documents, and to make sure employees especially top executives aren’t given huge payouts while the company struggles to stay afloat.

Before he can assume the job, Breeden must sell roughly 6,000 shares he owns in WorldCom, which have become virtually worthless, trading at 14 cents Wednesday on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

Rakoff also set a tentative trial date in the SEC action for March 21.