[JURIST] Wire services are reporting that former WorldCom CEO Bernard Ebbers [JURIST news archive], convicted of fraud [JURIST report] in March for his part in an $11 billion accounting scandal, will forfeit as much as $45 million worth of personal assets in a settlement of related civil charges. The deal, announced by the New York Attorney General's office Thursday, will require him to pay $5 million directly and transfer almost all his other assets - worth as much as $40 million -into a liquidation trust to be sold off. This arrangement will, however, allow Ebbers to avoid paying restitution which could have been much more costly. A judge must still approve the settlement, and Ebbers still faces life in prison [AP report] at his sentencing, now scheduled for July 13 after a month's postponement [AP report].