Ebbers and Sullivan along with former controller David Myers, former director of general accounting Buford Yates, former director of management reporting Betty Vinson and former director of legal-entity accounting Troy Mornam, as well the company itself have been charged with 'executing a scheme to artificially inflate bond and stock prices by intentionally filing false information with the Securities & Exchange Commission'.

The State of Oklahoma as well as securities analysts and the investing public allegedly used this information when making investment decisions, the charge says.

State attorney general Drew Edmondson said they had all been charged because they allegedly stood to profit from the scheme.

'This is not some rogue employee trying to line his own pockets. This was a conscious decision made for the benefit of the company,' Edmondson said.

It's the first time Ebbers has been criminally charged, while Sullivan has already faced federal charges.

The charges come just two weeks before MCI begins proceedings to try and emerge from bankruptcy following the $11bn accounting scandal and it is not yet known if other US states will follow suite.