The Security and Exchange Commission said Qwest’s ex-chief executive Joseph Nacchio and six other executives were committing “massive financial fraud.”

The accusation comes amid the charges against WorldCom’s ex-CEO Bernard Ebbers. The SEC said the probe showed Qwest was playing with its books that led the company to erase about $3 billion in revenue.

Robert Woodruff and Robin Szeliga, former chief financial officers; Afshin Mohebbi, former chief operating officer; Gregory Casey, a former executive vice president of Qwest’s wholesale business; and James Kozlowski and Frank Noyes, two former accountants were also accused of cooperating with Nacchio in accounting fluff.

ОбычныйОсновнойтекст"The most important thing we do is meet our numbers. It’s more important than any individual product, it’s more important than any individual philosophy. It’s more important than any individual cultural change that we’re making. We stop everything else when we don’t make the numbers," was said to the employees of Qwest in 2001.

Nacchio, Woodruff and Szeliga cashed in Qwest shares, lifting their profits $300 million, according to the SEC.