Are Qwest Honchos Off the Hook?

摘要

It seemed like an open-and-shut case. In February, 2003, the U.S. Attorney in Denver charged four former midlevel executives of telecom giant Qwest Communications International Inc. with conspiracy, securities fraud, and making false statements to accountants. The government claimed that the cabal accelerated anticipated revenues from a major deal to meet excessively aggressive sales forecasts. Attorney General John Ashcroft announced the indictment himself, while Securities & Exchange Commission Chairman William H. Donaldson hinted at more to come. "Today's action marks the beginning of our public efforts to hold accountable those at Qwest who abuse the public trust," Donaldson declared. Easier said than done. On Apr. 16, an embarrassed Justice Dept. struck out, failing to win a single conviction against any of the defendants. Two of the execs were found innocent on all charges. Jurors could not reach verdicts on all counts on the other two, forcing U.S. District Judge Robert E. Blackburn to declare mistrials in their cases. At press time, the government hadn't announced if it would retry them.