Several potential expert witnesses will appear in federal court this week in a civil fraud case pending against five former Qwest officials, including former chief executive Joe Nacchio. Hearings will be held from Tuesday to Thursday to determine whether the experts will be allowed to testify during trial. The potential witnesses are Sharon K. Black, Sally L. Hoffman, Elliot Lesser and Scott C. Chandler, according to court documents.
Black and Chandler would testify as telecom experts for the defense, said attorney Kevin Evans, who represents co-defendant James Kozlowski, a former Qwest accountant. Hoffman and Lesser would testify for the Securities and Exchange Commission as accounting experts.
The SEC accuses Nacchio, Kozlowski, former Qwest president Afshin Mohebbi, former chief financial officer Robert Woodruff and former accountant Frank Noyes of orchestrating a fraud that inflated the Denver company's revenue by $3 billion from 1999 to 2002.
