Former Adelphia Communications Corp. chairman John Rigas denied charges that he defrauded the company in an interview
with a Buffalo, N.Y., TV station and
protested the way he and his sons have been treated by prosecutors.
Rigas and his sons, Michael and Tim, have been accused of improperly using
company resources for their personal benefit, including borrowing $2.5 billion
against Adelphia's balance sheet.
Speaking to Buffalo CBS affiliate WIVB-TV, Rigas said a much-cited
golf course built with company funds was going to be donated to a foundation
that would have allowed it to be used for charitable fund-raising and by the
public.
"This was going to be a nonprofit enterprise, and the spin that [prosecutors]
put on it -- that I owned most of the land and there was no lease agreement and I
was going to sell it for a big profit -- completely erroneous and unfair," he
said.
Rigas said he's angry that he and his sons were paraded past TV cameras when
they were arrested.
"I can't believe, I'm almost denying myself the thought that this has
happened," he said, adding, "It's just so unimaginable."
