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NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -
U.S. prosecutors could be close to bringing criminal charges against the former CEO of Qwest Communications, according to a published report Thursday.
USA Today reported Thursday that U.S. Attorney William Leone asked a federal judge in Denver to stay a civil lawsuit that the Securities and Exchange Commission filed earlier this year against ex-Qwest CEO Joe Nacchio and several other former Qwest executives. The judge granted the request.
The paper quotes experts as saying the move is most likely a sign that the federal prosecutor is getting ready to move against Nacchio.
"The only time the Department of Justice asks for a stay is because it is going down the road of returning an indictment," Jacob Frenkel, a former federal prosecutor, told the paper.
Two weeks ago, former Qwest Chief Financial Officer Robin Szeliga pled guilty to one count of illegal inside trading for selling $125,000 worth of inflated Qwest stock, and agreed to cooperate with the ongoing criminal investigation.
Nacchio left Qwest in 2002 under fire from shareholders for his compensation package and facing an SEC probe into the telecom's accounting practices and the sale of stock by insiders there.
Nacchio's attorney, Charles Stillman, and the U.S. Attorney's office in Denver did not return calls from the paper late Wednesday. In March, a Nacchio spokeswoman told the paper he would fight the SEC charges vigorously.
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