In fact, the people close to the inquiry said, Bonlat's assets seemed to exist only on paper.

But it has not been able to obtain enough proof to bring any charges, people close to the inquiry say.

Quellos and its current and former employees are not targets in the investigation, according to people close to the inquiry.

A source close to the inquiry said last night: 'He gave very precise details.

"He has since then been singing" to the authorities, said one person close to the inquiry.

But the Justice Department is taking seriously the evidence that they and the former executives have presented, people close to the inquiry said.

Other people not named in the documents may also be charged ahead of the March 19 deadline, the person close to the inquiry said.

Safety board sources close to the inquiry said the flight had been descending at an unusually steep rate of about 3,500 feet per minute.

The chief immediate hypothesis of officials close to the inquiry was that the Delta crew had inserted the wrong data into their computerized navigation system.

As one source close to the inquiry put it: "There was a hell of a lot of dirty stuff going on."