A 12-count federal indictment handed down Tuesday accuses four Qwest officials of wrongly reporting revenue involving a $33 million order from Arizona's School Facilities Board.
The board, which oversees Arizona's program for constructing and maintaining school buildings, hired Qwest for a $141 million project to wire the state's 1,383 public schools for the Internet.
"The Justice Department never let us know about this," said board spokeswoman Kristen Landry. "But this certainly isn't going to affect any of the Qwest work that is being done."
"We are going on with what's in the contract," said Jeff Mirasola, a Qwest spokesman in Phoenix. He declined to comment further on the contract or on the indictment.
So far, Qwest has finished 625 schools, Landry said. Work is ongoing at 159 others and plans are being developed for the remainder.
Landry said all work should be done this August, well ahead of the state-mandated deadline of June 30, 2004.
The project has not proceeded smoothly, however. Although it began in January 2001, the project stalled last May when the company stopped installation work over a contract dispute with the board. In August, the board and the company agreed to an amended contract and work resumed.
School Facilities Board Chairman Logan E. Van Sittert said he and other members were surprised by the federal indictment, but said there have been no problems since the contract was renegotiated.
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