Q T Wiles

Once-renowned turnaround specialist Q. T. Wiles of Sherman Oaks and 15 other former executives and employees of MiniScribe Corp., an essentially defunct computer disk-drive maker, have been accused of fraudulently inflating the company's profits in a complaint filed last week by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC action is the latest in a string of developments involving Longmont, Colo.

MiniScribe, a troubled Longmont, Colo., computer disk-drive maker formerly headed by Q. T. Wiles of Sherman Oaks, said Tuesday that it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The bankruptcy action, filed Monday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Denver, was necessary because of 13 investor lawsuits pending against the company, MiniScribe said. "We believe that this is the only practical step the company can take to solve its many legal problems," said Richard P.