Did Winnick linger too long in position? (Up Front).

To some, Gary Winnick's decision to remain chairman of Global Crossing Ltd. for nearly a year after the telecom company filed for bankruptcy hindered the process of attracting suitors and slowed the government's investigation into financial irregularities.

To his supporters, Winnick showed honor by staying on during the reorganization process and recently making good on his pledge to place $25 million into an escrow account for Global Crossing employees who lost money in the company's retirement plan.

The varied reactions to Winnick's resignation last week are not surprising. For more than a year, he has been a lightning rod for investors and employees alike. What he knew about Global Crossing's questionable practices--and when he knew it--is at the heart of several ongoing investigations. That he stayed on so long after the allegations surfaced runs counter to the experiences of other executives running scandal-plagued companies.

Former Enron Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Kenneth Lay lasted less than two months after the energy trading company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Lay resigned in January 2002, one day after FBI agents raided Enron's headquarters. He hasn't been charged in the Justice Department's investigation, but is considered a subject of the probe.

Winnick, along with others at Global Crossing, is under investigation by government authorities for allegedly inflating revenue and insider trading.

Though Winnick took credit for leading Global Crossing's restructuring in his resignation letter, his contribution to the company has been debatable for some time.

"I'm not necessarily sure what type of value he was adding," said. Douglas Martin, a vice president at Chanin Capital Partners. Chanin is the adviser to Global Crossing's creditors' committee, a group that lost $12 billion but will retain a small slice of equity in the reorganized company.

The creditors' group called for Winnick's resignation in October, after Winnick told a Congressional subcommittee that he was unaware of the company's dire financial position when he sold $123 million of Global Crossing stock in May 2001.

Attorney Terry Christensen, however, echoed the themes Winnick sounded in his resignation note.

"At a lot of companies, the chairman stepped down during the middle of the process. Global Crossing is sort of Gary's baby, so he wanted to see it through and make sure that it was reorganized and on its way to as good a future as he could help create for it," said Christensen, who represents Winnick defending shareholder lawsuits.

"Gary Winnick behaved properly and honorably throughout his entire tenure at Global Crossing," added Gary Naftalis, who is leading Winnick's defense against government securities investigations.

But one source familiar with the Global Crossing probes countered that had Winnick resigned immediately post-bankruptcy, creditors may have been able to attract better bids for the company, or a stronger interim management team.

If he had left prior to the bankruptcy filing, the company may have been able to avoid a Chapter 11 filing by selling assets, this source said.

Instead, the source said, Global Crossing kept up the appearance of success and forgave loans made to its officers as it skidded toward bankruptcy court. "He should have resigned when they first went into bankruptcy and the board should have forced him to," the source said.

The Securities and Exchange Commission, the Justice Department and the Labor Department are all investigating Global Crossing, although according to published reports company officials, including Winnick, will not face any criminal charges.

Shareholders are also pressing lawsuits against Winnick and other company insiders, and Global Crossing's creditors are contemplating taking action as well.

While staying on may have increased the scrutiny on Winnick, it allowed him to exert some measure of control over the various investigations.

Global Crossing's attorney, Ralph Ferrara of Debevoise & Plimpton in Washington, D.C., represents many of the company's officers and directors , giving him the ability to coordinate with witnesses prior to their contact with investigators.

Intervention by defense attorneys, allowed under a 2000 federal law known as the McDade Act, tends to limit the scope and comprehensiveness of a witness's statement, and to reduce the chances that any unexpected information will emerge during an investigation.

Christensen agreed that Global Crossing executives put up a unified front, but he disagreed about the motivation. 'The fact that the executives, have tended to support .each other has been mostly a function of everyone feels that they've done the right thing," he said.