Fergie's Tech Blog

Secret Government Contracts? Qwest Chief Knew U.S. Fiber Optic Needs

An AP newswire article, via The New York Times, reports that:

At a time when Qwest faced challenges in meeting 2001 financial targets, Joseph P. Nacchio, then its chief executive, described the government’s need for fiber optic network capacity and hoped the company would win lucrative contracts to meet that demand, a former Qwest finance chief testified Tuesday.

The executive, Robin R. Szeliga, told jurors in Mr. Nacchio’s insider trading trial that he made the statement when she asked him why Qwest was buying assets abroad.

She said Mr. Nacchio told her that he could not explain because the information was classified, but that he had access to it through his membership on a government telecommunications panel. A defense lawyer, Herbert J. Stern, described the government’s capacity need as “mind-blowing, mind-boggling.”

It was the first time at trial that jurors heard details about the possibility of secret government contracts that Mr. Nacchio has said gave him hope for the telephone company’s future and proved that the stock sales at issue were legal.

posted by Fergie @ 3/27/2007 11:11:00 PM