Mar 28, 2007 12:02 pm US/Mountain
Ex-Business Manager Testifies At Nacchio Trial
Former Qwest CEO Charged With 42 Counts Of Insider Trading
DENVER (AP) ―
A former Qwest Communications manager who pleaded guilty to an accessory count in a multi--million-dollar fraud scheme took the witness stand Wednesday in the federal insider trading trial of Joe Nacchio in Denver.
Grant Graham was one of four midlevel Qwest managers accused of improperly booking nearly $34 million in revenue during a 2001 deal to link Arizona schools to the Internet.
He pleaded guilty in May 2004 to one count of accessory after the fact to wire fraud. Prosecutors dropped eight other charges.
Their agreement called for Graham to receive 1 year on probation if he cooperated with prosecutors looking into an accounting scandal at Qwest.
A former Qwest business manager was back on the stand briefly earlier Wednesday morning.
Gregory Casey has told jurors Tuesday that he believes the financial goals set for his wholesale business division were too high and unattainable.
His division was responsible for selling products such as one-time sales of capacity on Qwest's fiber optic network. He said that market was already tightening up when the budget planning had begun.
Nacchio, 57, is accused of selling $101 million worth of stock in 2001 based on inside knowledge that Qwest was at financial risk and may not meet revenue targets.
Each of the 42 counts against him carries a penalty of up to ten years in prison and a $1 million fine if he's convicted.
Defense lawyers say Nacchio believed Qwest would get hundreds of millions of dollars worth of classified government contracts that made him optimistic about the company's future.
Casey agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in the ongoing investigation into Qwest in exchange for immunity on criminal charges. He also reached a separate agreement in a civil fraud lawsuit filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Denver-based Qwest Communications International Incorporated is the primary telephone service provider in 14 Midwestern and Western states.
(© 2007 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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