Doubts over new Dome owner
The Government is facing further embarrassment over its plans to give the Millennium Dome to US billionaire Philip Anschutz.
The Evening Standard has learned that Mr Anschutz's main US company is subject to more than 30 court cases and investigations that could result in immense fines. They involve allegations of fraud, false accounting and other alleged wrong-doings during the height of the dotcom boom.
The staggering scale of the litigation has raised disturbing doubts about Denver-based Mr Anschutz's suitability to take over the Dome.
Liberal Democrat London spokesman Simon Hughes called for the handover of the site to be halted immediately.
"These latest disclosures suggest the proposed purchaser may be entirely unacceptable," he said.
Mr Anschutz's company - the loss-making telecoms group Qwest Communications International - was accused of artificially inflatingits sales figures by $2.5 billion (£1.6 billion) between 1999 and 2001.
And Qwest is being investigated about so-called "hot-stocking", where executives favoured some suppliers if they were given shares.
There is also anger about the 95 per cent collapse in its share price after the dotcom bubble burst.
There is thought to be no threat to the finances of the Dome but any fines against Qwest would be hugely damaging politically.
The Government has been accused of failing to carry out enough research, known as due diligence. It is thought that ministers held only two meetings with Mr Anschutz before he was awarded the Dome contract, one with former dome minister Lord Falconer and one with Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott.
A spokeswoman for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister said the Government had conducted "the full amount of due diligence normal and necessary for a contract of this scale".
The Government is already facing embarrassment over the involvement of South African property developer Sol Kerzner, who plans a casino at the Dome.
He is the subject of a review to determine whether he is "fit and proper" to run a casino.
Details of the litigation facing Qwest are included in a 194-page document filed with the US financial watchdog, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The document, obtained by the Evening Standard, lists: an SEC investigation of Qwest's 2000 and 2001 accounts; a criminal investigation into the company's accounting practices; a review to decide if it should be barred from federal contracts; three multi-billion-dollar actions by shareholders; a lawsuit for alleged insider trading; alleged pension fraud claims; and claims for allegedly breaking telecoms laws.
Last year, Lord Falconer handed the Dome to the Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG). The deal is the subject of an investigation by the National Audit Office.
It is unlikely that a fine against Qwest would halt the Dome redevelopment, as it wouldn't affect Mr Anschutz's personal dealings.
A spokesman for AEG said the Dome finances were ring-fenced.
He said: "Billionaires always have lawsuits against them - it happens. There isn't a billionaire in the world who isn't fighting some lawsuit or other."
