While nacchio was convicted of "insider trading", the trades were of the stock in <his own company>.
He was, in essence, convicted of not disseminating <honest> information to the public. The information that he was basically hiding, related to pre-merger qwest assets.
The purchase of US west provided a tactical means to merge a loss making entity with a profitable entity, and blend the accounting.
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In 2000, during Nacchio's tenure as Qwest CEO, the company acquired its regional rival US West. In 2002, Qwest admitted to false accounting during the time of the merger.[7]
The company was also involved in accounting scandals... [deals in] question were a series of deals from 1999 to 2001 with Enron's broadband division which may have helped Enron conceal losses.
He was, in essence, convicted of not disseminating <honest> information to the public. The information that he was basically hiding, related to pre-merger qwest assets.
The purchase of US west provided a tactical means to merge a loss making entity with a profitable entity, and blend the accounting.
________________________________________
In 2000, during Nacchio's tenure as Qwest CEO, the company acquired its regional rival US West. In 2002, Qwest admitted to false accounting during the time of the merger.[7]
The company was also involved in accounting scandals... [deals in] question were a series of deals from 1999 to 2001 with Enron's broadband division which may have helped Enron conceal losses.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Nacchio
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qwest