Qwest Ex-CFO in Plea Deal on Insider Trading

Federal prosecutors Thursday indicted a former Qwest Communications chief financial officer on an insider trading charge, accusing her of improperly earning $410,000 on a stock sale.

Robin Szeliga has reached a plea agreement and will cooperate with prosecutors investigating allegations of wrongdoing stemming from an accounting scandal at the telephone company, acting U.S. Atty. Bill Leone said.

Szeliga is the highest-ranking former executive from Qwest Communications International Inc. to be charged in the government’s criminal investigation of the Denver-based company. She also faces civil fraud charges in a separate case filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Terms of the plea agreement were not disclosed. A change-of-plea hearing is scheduled for next month in U.S. District Court.

A telephone message seeking comment from Szeliga’s attorney was not returned.