[JURIST] The Justice Department [official website] and the SEC [official website] are close to announcing a settlement with bankrupt cable television provider Adelphia Communications Corp. [corporate website] over the company's accounting issues. Under the terms of the settlement, Adelphia would pay $715 million into a compensation fund. The Rigas family, the founders of Adelphia, will also settle with the DOJ and SEC by giving up 95 percent of their assets. Adelphia collapsed in 2002 after allegations were made that the Rigas family siphoned millions of dollars of company funds for personal use and misrepresented its financial condition. Adelphia's founder, John Rigas [Wikipedia profile], and his son, Timothy, the company's former chief financial officer, were convicted of fraud and conspiracy last year [JURIST report; SEC complaint]. Just last week, Adelphia announced it has accepted a buyout offer from joint bidders Time Warner Inc. [corporate website] and Comcast Corp. [corporate website] valued at $17.6 billion in cash and stock [Time Warner press release]. The settlement payout would be among the highest ever paid by an American corporation. WorldCom, now MCI Inc. [corporate website], paid the largest fine of $750 million [SEC press release] in 2003. Reuters has more.

4:15 PM ET – The SEC press release on the Adelphia settlement is now online.