Business Briefs

Former Qwest execs acquitted\nDENVER -- A federal jury acquitted two former Qwest executives of improperly booking nearly $34 million in revenue, a stinging defeat for the government in the first criminal trial stemming from accounting irregularities at the telecommunications giant.\nThe jury deadlocked in the case against a third defendant and on most counts against a fourth, leaving prosecutors the choice of retrying the high-profile case. Assistant U.S. Attorney William Leone said that decision would be made within two weeks.\nThe four were accused of improperly booking nearly $34 million in revenue as part of a $100 million deal in 2001 to link Arizona schools to the Internet.\nDefense attorneys said the men were scapegoats, sacrificed by higher-ups eager to boost revenue and they were led to believe the deal was legitimate by accountants and company officials.\nAccounting firm Ernst & Young suspended for engaging in business with PeopleSoft, Inc.\nWASHINGTON, D.C. -- Ernst & Young was suspended from accepting new corporate clients for six months under a ruling Friday sought by federal regulators who allege the accounting firm did not remain completely independent from a company whose books it audited.\nThe administrative law judge at the Securities and Exchange Commission also ordered Ernst & Young, the nation's third-largest accounting firm, to pay $1.7 million in restitution, plus interest.\nThe rare suspension of a major accounting firm came in a case that began in 2002. SEC enforcement attorneys have been seeking to have Ernst & Young temporarily barred from new corporate auditing, arguing the firm violated rules designed to keep accountants independent from the companies they audit when it engaged in business with business software maker PeopleSoft, Inc.