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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted at 12:25 p.m., Tuesday, April 26, 2005

Hawaiian Telcom names chief financial officer

Advertiser Staff

Hawaiian Telcom today named former Daniel O'Brien chief financial officer.

Hawaiian Telcom will be the new name for Hawai'i's main phone company after a $1.6 billion sale of Verizon Hawaii to The Carlyle Group closes next week.

O'Brien, 50, was executive vice president and chief financial officer for Global Crossing Ltd. between 2003-05.

Global Crossing, a long-distance network operator, collapsed into bankruptcy in early 2002 and was the subject of a Securities and Exchange investigation into allegations the company deceived investors by not fully disclosing deals that falsely boosted sales.

The company reached a settlement with the SEC this month under which former chief executive Thomas Casey, former chief financial officer Dan Cohrs and former vice president of finance Joseph Perrone each paid $100,000, but admitted no wrongdoing.

As a successor CFO O'Brien helped lead Global Crossing through intensive external audits and SEC filings leading to the company's public listing with Nasdaq Stock Market last year, Hawaiian Telcom said.

O'Brien and current Global Crossing Chief Executive John Legere, have been named in ongoing class action lawsuits filed last year against Global Crossing, alleging material misrepresentations to the financial markets between December of 2003 and April 2004.

From 2000 to 2003, O'Brien was the executive vice president and CFO of Genuity Corp., a telecom company. Prior to Genuity, O'Brien spent 17 years in various roles at GTE Corp.