Nacchio, the former chief executive of Qwest Communications International, had been indicted on charges of insider trading involving stock sales worth more than $100 million. The indictment lists 42 counts against Mr. Nacchio involving sales of more than 2.5 million shares of Qwest stock in the first half of 2001. During that time, Mr. Nacchio knew that his company was in danger of missing its financial targets, according to the indictment announced by federal prosecutors in Denver, where Qwest has its headquarters. "Beginning as early as August 2000, Nacchio was specifically and repeatedly warned about the material, nonpublic financial risks facing Qwest and about Qwest's ability to achieve its aggressive publicly stated financial targets," the prosecutors said in the indictment, the culmination of a three-year investigation. ...Mr. Nacchio's indictment is the latest in a series of charges brought against former executives accused of misleading investors about their companies' financial condition. ..."Insider trading is a crime as we've said in the past and it's important for corporate executives to recognize that when they are in possession of information that the public is not, they are under a duty to abstain from trading, buying or selling stock during that time," William Leone, the government's lead attorney, told reporters in Denver. ...In March, the Securities and Exchange Commission sued Mr. Nacchio and other former Qwest executives, accusing them of overstating $3 billion in revenue from 1999 to 2002. ...Federal prosecutors in Denver have persuaded several other former Qwest executives to plead guilty, and they have also cooperated with the government's investigation. One of them, the former chief financial officer, Robin Szeliga, pleaded guilty to insider trading and is awaiting sentencing. ...Qwest, the dominant local phone company in 14 Western states, agreed last month to pay $400 million to shareholders who sued the company after it restated billions of dollars of revenue between 1999 and 2002. The settlement, which is subject to court approval, would resolve claims against Qwest, its board and former executives, except Mr. Nacchio and Robert S. You are subscribed as roessler@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx To manage your subscription, go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/ |