Some Qwest shareholders are getting notices in the mail this week to register for a piece of the $400 million partial settlement in an accounting-fraud suit that the phone company agreed to settle late last year.
Shareholders who bought company stock between May 1999 and July 2002 are covered by the suit, said Patrick Coughlin, an attorney involved in the settlement.
On average, stockholders will get 19 cents a share, but some claims will be worth up to $13.95 a share, according to a booklet sent with the notice.
Company stock fell from about $60 to $5 during the period.
Former shareholder Terry Parker would get back one- third of his more than $7,000 retirement investment, based on an allocation plan in the booklet. Parker, who has a real-estate and property-management office in Denver, said he hasn’t received the notice yet.
“That would sure thrill me. I would like to see all of my money back because the misrepresentations were so flagrant, but it doesn’t work that way,” he said.
Qwest was forced to restate $2.5 billion in revenue after an accounting scandal and the same amount in earnings to clean up its books.
The class-action suit claimed Qwest and its former executives made false and misleading statements and failed to disclose harmful information under the watch of former chief executive Joe Nacchio.
Nacchio has denied any wrongdoing in related cases brought against him by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Justice Department.
Staff writer Beth Potter can be reached at 303-820-1503 or bpotter@denverpost.com.
