SEC Seeks to Force Qwest Lawyer to Testify

The Securities and Exchange Commission is seeking to force Qwest Communications International Inc.’s former general counsel, Drake Tempest, to testify in its probe of the telephone company’s accounting.

Tempest failed to appear for scheduled testimony in June after he received a subpoena, the SEC said in papers filed in federal court in Denver on Wednesday.

The commission is pursuing more former Qwest executives after suing at least 10 former officials at the company, which in October disclosed $2.5 billion in overstated sales. Tempest reported to Joseph Nacchio, the former chief executive of Qwest. Tempest and Nacchio haven’t been sued by the SEC or charged with a crime.

“Tempest has apparently based his failure to appear on his attorney’s spurious claims to the SEC staff that he should not be forced to assert his 5th Amendment rights in testimony because there is a pending criminal investigation,” the papers said.

Tempest’s lawyer, James Nesland, said, “We simply asked for a delay because of a parallel pending investigation” by the Justice Department.