Business Briefs 2/17

Industry association to hold biz review

The Association of Commerce and Industry of New Mexico will hold a session of its 2004 Roundhouse Review in Clovis on March 12 at the Holiday Inn.

The meetings will feature local legislators and include a briefing on how key business issues were addressed during the 2004 Legislative session. A question and answer session will follow.

For information about the Roundhouse Review sessions or the ACI, contact Jean Totten at 842-0644.

Albuquerque sets home-selling record

ALBUQUERQUE — Reselling a home in the Albuquerque area last year might have seemed easy as the city set a record for sales of existing homes.

The 2003 sales hit 10,216, up more than 15 percent from the 8,871 existing homes sold in 2002 — which set a record that year.

‘‘It’s huge,’’ said Peter Parnegg, owner of Coldwell Banker Legacy, Albuquerque’s largest residential real estate agency. ‘‘What baffles all of us is that it happened with a bit of a dicey economy, a so-called jobless recovery and a war going on.’’

Qwest execs defend against fraud charges

DENVER — Four former Qwest executives will be in federal court today to stand trial on fraud and conspiracy charges, the first criminal case to come out of investigations into accounting irregularities at the telecommunications giant.

Prosecutors say the men were behind a scheme that allowed Qwest to improperly book $34 million from a computer equipment sale. Prosecutors say they conspired to lie about the deal and hid the facts from then-auditor Arthur Andersen.

Qwest officials have said only they are cooperating with investigators.

— Staff and wire reports