Qwest results 'exaggerated'

EXECUTIVES at Qwest Communications International made about $500 million selling company stock from 1999 to 2001, as the company was releasing results it now says were exaggerated and based on improper accounting, The New York Times said.

Joseph P Nacchio, Qwest’s chief executive until he was forced to resign last month, made $227 million, the paper said, citing Thomson Financial, a research company that tracks Securities and Exchange Commission filings.

Robert S Woodruff, the chief financial officer until last year, made $29 million, while Drake S Tempest, the current general counsel, made $13 million, the Times reported.