The Securities and Exchange Commission filed charges against five former Veritas Software Corp. executives, alleging they helped the company inflate revenue through sham transactions with America Online Inc., now part of Time Warner Inc., The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.
The SEC reached settlements with two former executives and is continuing its case against former Chairman and Chief Executive Mark Leslie, former Chief Financial Officer Kenneth Lonchar and former head of sales Paul Sallaberry. It is seeking to fine the former executives, force them to return allegedly ill-gotten gains, with interest, and bar them from working as officers or directors of public companies, the paper reported.
Cully and Newton didn't admit or deny the SEC's charges but agreed to a settlement in which they will return money and pay fines, according to the SEC, the paper reported.
"Mr. Lonchar made good-faith accounting judgments," his lawyer, Susan Resley, said, according to the paper. "This included his judgment in the AOL transactions, which he made based on his understanding that the software-licensing agreements and the ad contracts were bona fide, fairly priced, and commercially reasonable transactions -- and certainly were not contingent upon one another." Attorneys for the other former executives couldn't be reached for comment by the paper.
-New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants
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