Corporations and securities brief ~ SEC files lawsuit against Qwest executives News
Corporations and securities brief ~ SEC files lawsuit against Qwest executives

[JURIST] Leading Tuesday's corporations and securities law news, the SEC [official website] has filed a lawsuit against former Qwest Communications International Inc. [corporate website] CEO Joseph Nacchio and six other former executives alleging they filed false financial statements that led to a massive financial fraud on investors. The scheme caused Qwest to fraudulently report about $3 billion of revenue and led to the company's merger with US West Inc. in 2000. Read the SEC press release and litigation release. Read the SEC complaint [PDF]. Reuters has more.

In other news…

  • Former Enron [corporate website; JURIST Hot Topic] chairman Ken Lay [Wikipedia profile] has asked for different juries to hear the two criminal cases currently pending against him. Judge Sim Lake had told Lay and prosecutors that he was considering hearing the two cases either with the same jury or no jury at all. Lay's lawyers believe having one jury hear both cases would be deny Lay his Sixth Amendment right to an impartial jury. Read the indictment [text, PDF] and SEC complaint [text, PDF] against Lay. The Houston Chronicle has more and continuing coverage of the Enron trials.
  • Russian state oil firm Rosneft [corporate website] has sued embattled oil giant Yukos [corporate website; JURIST Hot Topic] for $11 billion to cover the back-tax bills of Yuganskneftegaz, a former subsidiary of Yukos which was purchased by Rosneft following the firm's seizure and auction by tax officials. Yukos called the lawsuit "ridiculous" and maintains it is the rightful owner of Yuganskneftegaz. Read the Yukos press release. BBC News has more.
  • As previously reported on JURIST's Paper Chase, former WorldCom [JURIST Hot Topic] chief Bernard Ebbers [Wikipedia profile; JURIST Newsmaker] was found guilty on all counts including conspiracy, securities fraud, and seven counts of false regulatory filings relating to the massive accounting fraud at the company. Ebbers could face upwards of 85 years in prison. Read the indictment [PDF] against Ebbers. AP has more.