NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - John Rigas, the former head of Adelphia Communications, and two of his sons were arrested Wednesday and charged with looting the cable TV company of hundreds of millions of dollars to pay for luxury condos and a golf course, and to cover personal investment losses.

The three men did not enter pleas in federal district court. Instead, they were freed on $10 million bail in cash, personal property and securities, and agreed not to leave the country.

John Rigas, the founder of cable television company Adelphia Communications, was arrested on Wednesday on charges he and his two sons treated the company as if it were their own "personal piggy bank." (Photo: CNNfn)

The criminal complaint unsealed Wednesday alleges that Rigas, together with family members, engaged in fraud and criminal self-dealing that "looted Adelphia on a massive scale, using the company as the Rigas family's personal piggy bank, at the expense of public investors and creditors."

Two other former Adelphia executives -- James R. Brown, 40, the former vice president of finance, and Michael C. Mulcahey, 45, the former director of internal reporting -- were arrested in Pennsylvania on the same charges.

Separately, Adelphia filed a racketeering lawsuit late Wednesday against founder John Rigas, his three sons, Tim, Michael and James, son-in-law Peter Venetis, Brown and Mulcahey. Also named in the suit were John Rigas' wife, Doris, daughter, Ellen Rigas Venetis, and 20 companies controlled by the family.

U.S. Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson announces charges against five former top executives of Adelphia Communications. Play video

The suit, filed in U.S. bankruptcy court in the Southern District of New York, charges the Rigases and other former executives with violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), breach of fiduciary duties, waste of corporate assets, abuse of control, breach of contract, unjust enrichment, fraudulent conveyance and conversion of corporate assets.

"The Rigas family directors, together with the other defendants, are responsible for one of the largest cases of corporate looting and self-dealing in American corporate history," the lawsuit states.

In addition, the Securities and Exchange Commission also filed a civil lawsuit Wednesday against the five men named in the criminal complaint. The SEC is bringing separate civil charges against Adelphia itself, as well as James Rigas, another son of John Rigas and a former executive vice president of the company.

Adelphia, the nation's no. 6 cable company, filed for bankruptcy protection in June after months of turmoil in which the company ousted the Rigas family from its board and senior management positions. The accounting scandal, in which Adelphia revealed that founder John Rigas engaged in off-the-books borrowing to use company cash or assets to invest in a golf course and expand the Rigas family's personal cable assets, has caused losses to investors of more than $60 billion. Adelphia's stock closed at 15 cents a share Wednesday, down from a peak of $66 in May 1999.

Coudersport, Pa-based Adelphia (ADELQ: Research, Estimates) said late Wednesday that it supports the arrests and believes that these actions will help it recover the assets improperly taken by the Rigas family.

The Rigas family "engaged in egregious self-dealing and financial chicanery, while at the same time providing the company's independent directors and the marketplace with incomplete, misleading or simply false information,"Adelphia stated.

Rigas, 77, Adelphia's founder and former chairman and CEO, and his sons Timothy and Michael, face federal conspiracy charges as well as securities, bank and wire fraud charges. They each face up to 100 years in prison and millions of dollars in fines if convicted on all counts.

Timothy Rigas, 46, and Michael, 48, were executive vice presidents of Adelphia: Timothy was chief financial officer and head of the board's audit committee, and Michael was in charge of operations.

Late Wednesday, the Rigas's were freed on $10 million bail each. Prosecutors had argued for high bail, claiming that the men may flee, but defense lawyers dismissed their concerns.

"There is no risk of flight in this case," said attorney Jeremy Temkin, who represents Timothy Rigas.

Peter Fleming, a lawyer for John Rigas, called his client "an extremely decent man ....He has never sold a share of Adelphia stock and therefore never profited from the sale of Adelphia stock," he said. An attorney for Michael Rigas declined to comment.

John Rigas, second from right, poses with his sons, from left, James, Michael and Timothy. All four face civil SEC charges filed Wednesday, and all but James face federal criminal charges.

In the SEC lawsuit, the regulator alleges that the executives fraudulently excluded billions of dollars in liabilities from Adelphia's financial statements by hiding them on the books of off-balance-sheet affiliates. The suit also says they falsified operating statistics, inflated earnings to meet forecasts by Wall Street analysts, and hid self-dealing by the Rigas family.

The SEC seeks to have the executives give up all gains from the alleged fraud as well as all compensation they received during the time of the alleged misconduct.

The actions were detailed at a joint Justice Department-SEC news conference in New York held by Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson, the head of the new federal corporate crime task force, who said the misdeeds at Adelphia were among the worst ever discovered.

"The complaint alleges that members of the Rigas family that controlled Adelphia systematically looted the corporation," he said. "In less than four years, the complaint alleges, they stole hundreds of millions of dollars and through their fraud caused losses for investors of more than $60 billion."

Rigas joins former Tyco International Ltd. CEO Dennis Kozlowski, who is facing state tax evasion and evidence tampering charges related to his purchase of artwork, as well as former ImClone Systems Inc. CEO Samuel Waksal, who faces charges related to insider trading of company stock, among former top executives now facing criminal charges.

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Many top companies have admitted to being the subject of SEC investigations for improper accounting practices or other actions. Copier maker Xerox settled SEC civil fraud charges for a record $10 million. Auditor Arthur Andersen was convicted of federal obstruction of justice charges for destroying documents at bankrupt energy trader Enron.

Leading brokerage firm Merrill Lynch agreed to pay $100 million and reform its analysts' stock recommendation procedures after it was hit with conflict of interest charges by New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. And AOL Time Warner (AOL: Research, Estimates), parent of CNN/Money, said Wednesday that the SEC is conducting a "non-public fact finding inquiry" into its accounting practices.

The misspending alleged by the federal authorities included Adelphia's paying off personal loans used by the Rigas family to buy stock, and the construction of a $12.8 million golf course on land owned by John Rigas, as well as the purchase of aircraft and luxury condominiums in Colorado, Mexico and New York City.

"This case presents a deeply troubling picture of greed and deception at a large, publicly held company," SEC Director of Enforcement Stephen Cutler said at the news conference.

The federal officials said their investigation is continuing, and that further legal action is possible, including possible charges against Adelphia's former auditors Deloitte & Touche. The accounting firm said Wednesday that it has not been able to review the Rigas's indictment or the SEC complaint.

"Our preliminary understanding is that the U.S. Attorney and SEC actions raise many of the same issues raised by Deloitte when we suspended our audit of Adelphia earlier this year," the company said.

Deloitte said it will continue to cooperate with both the U.S. Attorney and the SEC.  

--The Associated Press contributed to this report