Washington ? WorldCom’s former chief executive officer was aware that hundreds of millions of dollars were shifted as part of nearly $4 billion in accounting irregularities, company attorneys have told a House investigative panel.

The telecommunications giant’s founder and former CEO, Bernard Ebbers, invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination at a congressional hearing Monday and refused to answer questions, citing current investigations by the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Ebbers’ attorney insisted he was unaware of the transactions in question.

The SEC has filed civil fraud charges against WorldCom, one of the latest major corporations to face allegations of executive wrongdoing and accounting dodges.

Attorneys for WorldCom recently told investigators with the House Energy and Commerce Committee that “Bernie (Ebbers) was aware that hundreds of millions of dollars had been moved,” committee spokesman Ken Johnson said Thursday. The attorneys said that information came to them from Scott Sullivan, WorldCom’s former chief financial officer, who also refused to testify.

“This is the first evidence that we’ve seen that the muddy little footprints may lead back to Bernie Ebbers’ doorstep,” Johnson said.