February 26, 2003 -- (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- Four former executives at Qwest Communications International, a major telecommunications firm, have been indicted on charges relating to corporate accounting fraud, the U.S. Department of Justice said yesterday.
The Justice Department obtained a 12-count grand jury indictment in Denver charging the executives "with a conspiracy that deceived intentionally the investing public and the Securities and Exchange Commission about the true state of the company's finances," the Justice Department's Web site said. "As we continue our efforts to battle corporate fraud, our message is clear: no board room is beyond the law. No executive is above the law."
The indictment alleges that the defendants devised a scheme to falsely claim more than $33 million of additional revenue in the second quarter of 2001, a quarter in which the Justice Department said Qwest was experiencing weak sales.
The defendants charged in the indictment are:
Grant Graham, Chief Financial Officer for Qwest's Global Business Unit;
Thomas Hall, a Senior Vice President in the Government and Educational Solutions Group within Qwest's Global Business Unit;
John Walker a Vice President in the Government and Educational Solutions Group;
Bryan Treadway an Assistant Controller at Qwest.
"Qwest continues in its efforts to cooperate with the government in connection with the investigations. Fundamental to the Spirit of Service is complete integrity in all we do. As a company and as individual employees, we hold ourselves to the highest ethical standards as we conduct our business," Qwest said in a statement.
