Veritas executives charged for 'inflating' results
Five executives of US IT company Veritas' being sued by the SEC
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