Five former executives of a major US IT company are being sued by the US regulator over manipulation of financial results.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has alleged that the five senior executives 'inflated and/or intentionally manipulated and distorted Veritas' reported financial results and misled Veritas' independent auditors', leading the firm to file false and misleading financial statements from 2000 through 2002, CFO.com reported.

This is not the first time Veritas has been hauled before the SEC. In February, the firm coughed up $30m to settle other outstanding issues with the regulator.
Two of those being charged have already settled and are set to pay $287,000 to the SEC.

The other three, former chairman and CEO Mark Leslie, former CFO Kenneth Lonchar and former head of sales, Paul Sallaberry, have not yet indicated if they will attempt to settle.

Leslie’s lawyers have accused the regulator of being 'over zealous' and of casting 'an overly broad net only to ensnare an entirely innocent individual.'

More concretely, they say the transaction in question had been fully disclosed by Leslie, and 'reviewed and approved numerous times by internal and external accounting professionals.'

If the case goes the distance, the lawyers said, 'We are confident a trial will vindicate Leslie’s conduct and reflect his 40 years of constructive devotion to the technology industry and the Silicon Valley community.'

Further reading:

SEC sets out case against Veritas - see documents here

S.E.C. Sues 5 Ex-Executives in Veritas Software Fraud Case