Report: SEC to Charge Former Qwest CEO
Qwest
(Q)
may see its proposed acquisition of
MCI
(MCIP)
as the key to its future, but the company's past continues to be of great interest to regulators.
The
Securities and Exchange Commission
is reportedly readying charges against the telecom company's former CEO, Joseph Nacchio.
Civil fraud charges related to Nacchio's role in massive accounting fraud at the Denver-based company could be filed as early as next week, according to a Friday report in
The Wall Street Journal
.
It's unclear exactly what the charges will be but they will also be filed against other executives, the
Journal
reported, citing people familiar with case.
The case relates to Qwest's accounting practices during the tech boom of the last decade. Nacchio nearly ran Qwest into the ground in 2002 after aggressively pushing for sales growth at all costs. The fallout after Nacchio was ousted included civil and criminal investigations into accounting and business practices, the restatement of $2.5 billion in misbooked revenue, and a fire sale of assets to keep creditors at bay.