TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Former Spectrum Chief Caserta Indicted: A federal prosecutor in New York charged Peter Caserta, former president of Manhasset, N.Y.-based Spectrum Information Technologies Inc., with defrauding several hundred companies of more than $6 million. Nine former employees of the Caserta Group, a privately held investment firm, were also named in the 102-count mail and wire fraud indictment. They are accused of making false statements in attempts to raise money for high-technology and other growth companies. Caserta gained attention in October, 1993, after hiring John Sculley, former chief of Apple Computer Inc., as chief executive and chairman of Spectrum, a holder of patents for wireless data transmission. Sculley quit the company a few months later, angry with Caserta for not providing details about Spectrum’s financial structure and a pending government investigation. They traded lawsuits but eventually dropped them.