Boss of US Dome firm in scandal

THE new owner of the Dome is at the centre of the latest accounting scandal to rock the US. American tycoon Philip Anschutz, 63, made £1bn by selling shares in a company at an inflated price.

Mr Anschutz, who is heading a consortium that is taking over the Dome, was founding chairman of Qwest Communications which is being investigated by a US financial regulator.

It emerged today that he sold a big stake in Qwest for $47 a share in 1999. The price slumped to $1 a share after the company admitted it had exaggerated its profits and used improper accounting practices.

Other senior Qwest executives made a further £317m by selling before the shares crashed.

Last weekend the company's new chief executive, Richard Notebaert, admitted that the company had been overstating its profits for three years from 1999 to 2001, and would have to restate its results for that period.

The scandal is the latest in a wave to hit corporate America, including the collapse of energy trader Enron and telecoms group WorldCom.

The Dome, is to be turned into a concert and sports venue surrounded by luxury flats. The venue will be operated by the Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), part of the Meridian Delta consortium which is taking over the whole site.

A government spokesman said: 'The deal that we did was with Meridian Delta, who in turn did a deal with AEG. AEG are completely separate from Qwest.'