NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Four former executives at Qwest Communications International Inc. were indicted Tuesday on 12 counts of allegedly scheming to artificially inflate revenue at the leading local phone company in 14 U.S. states.

The announcement was made by Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission officials. The SEC is also seeking civil penalties against a total of eight former and current employees, including the loss of salaries and bonuses during the time of the alleged misdeed.

The Justice Department announced indictments of four former Qwest Communications executives. CNNfn's Greg Clarkin reports. Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)

The alleged criminal action involved the second quarter of 2001 and the false recognition of $33 million in revenue. The SEC action covers both 2000 and 2001 and involves the alleged improper booking of $144 million.

The criminal charges involved the improper booking of money from a contract to create a systemwide computer network for public schools in Arizona. The SEC action involves that contract as well as a deal to provide equipment and services to Genuity Inc., an Internet service provider. The executives took the action to help Qwest meet its numbers in a difficult period for the company, according to government officials.

"Simply put, the defendants couldn't make the numbers work, so they cheated," said Bill Donaldson, the newly appointed chairman of the SEC.

Those indicted included Grant Graham, 37, Qwest's former chief financial officer, as well as Thomas Hall, 51, a former senior vice president, John Walker, 41, the company's former vice president for its government and education unit, and Bryan Treadway, 37, the company's former assistant controller.

Graham's attorney, Daniel Sears, said his client "was not responsible for initiating this transaction, he was not responsible for the accounting treatment that it received, and he is not criminally responsible for any of these charged activities."

Hall's lawyer, Jeffrey Springer, said his client was "being offered up as a human sacrifice by a corrupt corporation." He told the wire services that Hall did not profit or stand to profit from the activity and had "no idea he was being led into an arguably criminal transaction."

Attorney General John Ashcroft said that the four would be given the opportunity to surrender to authorities, unlike some other business executives who were arrested to face criminal charges during the last year.

The company itself is not facing any criminal or civil charges at this time, although Ashcroft stresses that the investigation is ongoing. Qwest said in a statement that it will continue its efforts to cooperate with the government in connection with the investigations.

Related stories Qwest back in black Qwest in talks with SEC Qwest to restate results Qwest faces criminal probe

In addition to the four facing criminal charges, the SEC took action against William L. Eveleth, the current CFO of Qwest's corporate planning and operational finance unit, as well as three other former employees -- Richard L. Weston, the former senior vice president in product development for Qwest's Internet solutions unit, Joel Arnold, the former senior vice president of global business, and Douglas K. Hutchins, a former director of global business.

The SEC is seeking to bar Arnold, Graham, Hall, Treadway and Weston from serving as a director or officer of a publicly held company in the future in addition to potential civil fines.

Qwest said in July that the U.S. attorney's office in Denver had opened a criminal probe into the company. Company officials said Tuesday they would hold off on further comment until after the press conference.

U.S. regulators also have been probing accounting practices at Qwest and other telecommunications companies for about a year. The investigations focus on whether the carriers improperly inflated revenue by incorrectly booking sales and swaps of network capacity to meet Wall Street's revenue expectations.

Related links Civil Complaint (SEC v. Arnold) Criminal Indictment (U.S. v. Graham) FindLaw

Qwest has said it will restate about $2.2 billion in total revenue for sales of optical network capacity, equipment, and other services in 2000 and 2001. The company recently posted its first profit in 11 quarters as it cut costs to offset a drop in revenue. It also has strengthened its balance sheet through debt exchanges and asset sales, cut more than 10,000 jobs, or 17 percent of its work force, and shed unprofitable businesses.

Shares of Qwest (Q: Research, Estimates) finished 2 cents higher at $3.40 Tuesday following the announcement.  

-- Reuters contributed to this story.