Denver, CO: (Nov-23-07) The Colorado Public Employees Retirement Association (PERA) brought charges against Qwest Communications International, alleging that the company engaged in an accounting scandal. The Securities and Exchange Commission accused Qwest and several former executives of a massive financial fraud that forced the Denver-based phone company to restate $2.2 billion in revenue. The company reached a $250 million settlement with the SEC in 2004 without admitting or denying the allegations. Records show that earlier, PERA had opted out of a $400 million class action settlement reached in 2005. PERA officials claimed that the association's share of that settlement would have been about $400,000.
According to the SEC filings, Qwest said it had agreed to pay a total of $411 million to shareholder groups that had opted out of the class action settlement. In a recent development in the case, sources stated that PERA had reached a $15.5 million settlement with Qwest, resolving the lawsuit. PERA provides retirement and other benefits to 410,000 current and former public employees in Colorado. [
