W-b School Rivalries Back On Schedule

Ann Mashinski

By TERRIE MORGAN-BESECKER tmorgan@leader.net
 Thursday, January 08, 2004 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 7B 





WILKES-BARRE - The founder of the financially troubled Adelphia Cable Co.
wants a federal bankruptcy court to assume jurisdiction of a lawsuit filed by
several prominent investors who say they lost more than $1 million because of
alleged fraudulent accounting practices. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Louis Pagnotti Inc. and a corporation connected to Charles Parente and
several of his family members filed the lawsuit last year in Luzerne County
Court against Adelphia's auditors, Deloitte &amp; Touche. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The suit alleged the firm was negligent for failing to uncover a massive
accounting fraud federal authorities say was perpetrated by Adelphia founder
John Rigas and several of his sons. The auditing firm later added Rigas and
his sons as defendants. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Pagnotti Inc. and the Parentes were major stockholders in Adelphia, which
merged with the Pagnotti/Parente-owned Verto Communications in 1998. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The suit alleged the stock became virtually worthless after the accounting
problems were uncovered, forcing Adelphia in 2002 to file for Chapter 11
bankruptcy court protection from creditors while the company reorganizes. The
bankruptcy proceeding was filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern
District of New York. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Rigas and his sons, Timothy and Michael, were charged by federal
authorities in July 2002 with wire and bank fraud. Authorities said they stole
hundreds of millions of dollars from the cable company. Their trial is
scheduled to start in Feb. 9 in New York. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The Pagnotti/Parente suit, filed in April 2003, is pending in Luzerne
County Court. On Tuesday, Lawrence McMichael of Philadelphia, attorney for the
Rigas family, filed court papers to transfer the case to bankruptcy court. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Contacted Wednesday, McMichael said the Pagnotti/Parente case is among
about 50 cases that have been brought by investors nationwide. He said
transferring the case to federal bankruptcy court would help expedite the
litigation. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``It will be coordinated with other related matters. It's a more efficient
way to handle the situation,'' he said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 McMichael said Pagnotti/Parente could fight the transfer, but other such
challenges have been denied by the federal bankruptcy judge handling the case. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Adelphia Cable, the nation's sixth largest cable company, serves about 70
communities in Luzerne County. It has continued to operate as the bankruptcy
case proceeds. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Adelphia Cable Owners Want Suit Transferred Investors From Luzerne County Sued The Company's Auditors In Connection With Allegations Of Fraud.