Four former executives of Canadian telecommunications group Nortel have been charged with repeated acts of accounting fraud by the Securities and Exchange Commission .

The executives, Frank Dunn, Douglas Beatty, Michael Gollogly and MaryAnne Pahapill, have been charged with bridging gaps between Nortel’s true performance, its internal targets and Wall Street expectations.

The complaint alleges that these individuals engaged in this misconduct while serving as top corporate executives of Nortel between September 2000 and January 2004.

During that time, Dunn served as chief financial officer and chief executive officer; Beatty as controller and chief financial officer; Gollogly as controller; and Pahapill as assistant controller and vice president of corporate reporting.

'The fraudulent conduct at issue here was egregious and long-running,' said Linda Thomsen, the SEC's director of enforcement. 'Each of the defendants betrayed Nortel’s investors and their misconduct gave rise to billions of dollars in shareholder losses.'

Further reading:

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