Attorneys for former Qwest chief executive Joe Nacchio and six other former company officials accused of accounting fraud indicated Tuesday that they may seek dismissal of the government’s case.
When U.S. Magistrate Judge Craig Shaffer asked during a hearing Tuesday whether any did not plan to file a motion to dismiss, the attorneys remained silent.
After the hearing, attorneys for two of the men, accountants Frank Noyes and James Kozlowski, confirmed they will file motions to dismiss. It is typical for defendants in civil fraud cases to try to have the charges dismissed.
Shaffer informed the attorneys that they have until June 1 to file their formal responses to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s case. They had sought a June 16 deadline.
The SEC sued the former Qwest executives last month for allegedly inflating the company’s revenues by $3 billion and misleading investors from 1999 to 2002. Those charged are Nacchio, Noyes, Kozlowski, former chief financial officers Robert Woodruff and Robin Szeliga, former president and chief operating officer Afshin Mohebbi, and former wholesale sales chief Gregory Casey.
The SEC seeks to have the executives repay stock-sale profits, bonuses and, in some cases, salaries.
In Nacchio’s case, stock-sale profits alone amounted to more than $176.5 million in the time frame covered by the SEC’s probe.
The SEC also seeks to bar Nacchio, Woodruff, Szeliga, Mohebbi, Casey and William Eveleth, one of those who settled, from serving as officers or directors of publicly traded companies.
Staff writer Greg Griffin can be reached at 303-820-1241 or ggriffin@denverpost.com.
