A federal judge refused Monday to dismiss shareholder allegations against several former Qwest Communications executives accused of engaging in a scheme that forced the company to restate billions of dollars in revenue.
In a 33-page order, U.S. District Judge Robert E. Blackburn of Denver denied in part and granted in part motions to dismiss filed by former chief legal officer Drake Tempest, former chief operating officer Afshin Mohebbi, former chief financial officer Robin Szeliga and former sales executive Gregory M. Casey.
The former executives made a series of arguments seeking to get the civil lawsuit filed by Stichting Pensioenfonds ABP dismissed, including claims that the statute of limitations had expired and that they could not be held accountable for statements made by others.
Blackburn denied both arguments.
He granted some claims.
For example, he said allegations that Casey manipulated fiber-optic capacity transactions should proceed. But he also dismissed an allegation that Casey had a controlling role in manipulating telephone directory revenue.
ABP said in its lawsuit that it lost more than $100 million when the value of Qwest stock fell in the wake of an accounting scandal that prompted Qwest to restate revenue.
ABP’s claims have been consolidated with others into a shareholder suit against Qwest and former managers.
