LOS ANGELES COUNTY - News from July 18, 1994

Wiles Trial Under Way: The trial of former corporate turnaround specialist Quentin T. Wiles of Sherman Oaks continues in federal court in Denver. Wiles, 74, faces three criminal counts of fraud related to the last company he was hired to save, computer disk drive maker MiniScribe Corp. The company filed for bankruptcy five years ago and was liquidated. Prosecutors allege that Wiles, who worked for the San Francisco venture capital firm Hambrecht & Quist and had a reputation as a trouble-shooter, defrauded MiniScribe’s investors by issuing false financial statements and then profiting from stock sales. Among the allegations are that MiniScribe, based in Longmont, Colo., shipped bricks packaged as disk drives to boost its inventory numbers. Each charge against Wiles carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.