Washington ? A federal judge on Monday approved a $750 million settlement between federal regulators and WorldCom Inc., saying a substantially heavier fine for a corporate accounting fraud scandal would “unfairly penalize” the company’s 50,000 employees.

Although the fine in the $11 billion case was $250 million higher than originally proposed, U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff of New York said driving the telecommunications company out of business was not the goal.

Rakoff noted that WorldCom, through a court-appointed monitor, has attempted to overhaul its corporate culture and agreed to continued monitoring to prevent similar fraud from recurring.

“The court is satisfied that the steps already taken have gone a very long way toward making the company a good corporate citizen,” the judge wrote.

“This is not to say the sins of the past can be forgotten or wholly forgiven,” Rakoff said