TECHNOLOGY - Feb. 11, 1992

Ex-MiniScribe Exec Fined $250 Million: A Texas jury assessed Quentin T. Wiles, a Sherman Oaks resident, $250 million in punitive damages for his role in the collapse of MiniScribe, the now-defunct computer disk drive manufacturer he once headed. The jury found Wiles, 72, and three other defendants guilty of fraud, negligence, gross negligence and conspiracy to commit fraud. The New York-based accounting firm Coopers & Lybrand was ordered to pay $200 million. Hambrecht & Quist, an investment banking concern in San Francisco, was assessed $45 million, and $35 million was levied against the investment firm’s president, William R. Hambrecht. The punitive damages were awarded to Kemper Capital Management Co., which bought MiniScribe debentures and sold them at a loss after allegations surfaced that MiniScribe had falsified its financial statements.