The former chief financial officer of United Rentals (UR), the biggest US construction-equipment rental company, has pleaded guilty to making false filings with regulators, enabling him to make a profit of $US11.1m (₤5.5m).

Michael Nolan pleaded guilty in federal court in Bridgeport, Connecticut, to one count of making false filings with USA's Securities and Exchange Commission in breach of the US securities laws, US news publication Newsday reports.

In December 2000, Nolan and others made transactions aimed to falsely inflate UR's earnings per share by improperly realising millions of dollars in additional profit for the fourth quarter of 2000 and the full year 2000, US prosecuters said.

Between March 2001 and March 2002, Nolan and others benefitted personally from the company's falsely inflated earnings per share by selling a substantial amount of the company's stock at a fraudulently inflated price. Nolan himself made a profit of $US11.1m through these share transactions, prosecutors said.

Nolan faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to about $US22m. He will also be required to pay restitution of $US11.1m.

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Read the story in Newsday