Veritas Settles with SEC for $30 Million in AOL Fraud Case
Veritas Software has agreed to pay the Securities and Exchange Commission $30 million to settle charges that the company collaborated with AOL as early as 2000 to unfairly inflate advertising sales numbers and defraud investors. According to the SEC, Veritas and AOL inflated sales by as much as $20 million.
Both AOL and Veritas reevaluated their earnings in 2003 and 2004, removing the inflated numbers from this and other similar deals from their earning reports.
AOL paid the SEC $300 million in 2005 for the same infringement. The SEC says the larger amount was due to greater misconduct and larger accounting exaggerations by AOL. Veritas was also charged with aiding and abetting AOL.
According to the complaint, Veritas “artificially inflated reported revenues in connection with a $20 million round-trip transaction with America Online,” and “to produce what it believed were exceptional or ‘museum quality’ financial results, Veritas systematically manipulated its financial results through 2002 by periodically recording and maintaining excess accrued liabilities or cushions in its accrual accounts.”
AOL merged with Time Warner in 2000, and Veritas was purchased by Symantec in 2005 for $10.25 billion. Anticipating the fine, Symantec had already budgeted an extra $30 million. The SEC says it will distribute the $30 million to investors under the Sarbanes-Oxley act.
Reader Comments.
No comments yet
Leave a Comment
Article Sponsor
More News
-
Loading ...
Latest News
- Infographic: HootSuite Analyses Social Media Impact of Super Bowl Ads February 7th 2012 ADOTAS - So, it’s the Tuesday after the Super Bowl, [...] more »
- Facebook to Serve Mobile Ads in Coming Weeks February 6th 2012 ADOTAS – According to a Financial Times report, Facebook will [...] more »
- Survey: 39 Percent of Mobile Users Responded to Super Bowl Ads Via Mobile February 6th 2012 ADOTAS - During the Super Bowl yesterday, mobile ad network [...] more »
- Sponsormob Leads the Way Into RTB for Mobile February 3rd 2012 ADOTAS – For more than half a decade, Berlin-based tech [...] more »
- Weird Study: Mobile Purchasing While in the Bathroom on the Rise February 3rd 2012 DM CONFIDENTIAL - According to 11mark, three-quarters of Americans with mobile [...] more »
- This Week’s New Hires February 3rd 2012 ADOTAS – Another week, another round of new gigs. Here [...] more »
- Two Surveys: What Are We Doing with Mobile Devices During the Super Bowl? February 2nd 2012 ADOTAS - With the Super Bowl fast approaching and the [...] more »
Features
- Rethinking the Online Advertising Ecosystem, Part One: Independent Publishers February 8th 2012
- Case Study: Social Ad Effectiveness February 8th 2012
- Video: “Build an SEO Foundation” Excerpt February 8th 2012
- Covering the Digital Buy: Super Bowl Winners and Losers February 8th 2012
- How Social Targeting Can Lead to Discovery February 7th 2012
Spotlight
Sponsormob Leads the Way Into RTB for MobileADOTAS – For more than half a decade, Berlin-based tech firm Sponsormob has remained relevant in an industry characterized by [...] more...
Reader Favorites
Classifieds
- PS Technical Writer - SEO Data Analyst
- Interactive Project Manager
- Media Buyer
- PHP Software Engineer (Facebook Platform/Social AP
- SEO/Marketing Internship at Green Education Startu
Recent Comments
- Andrew Boer: You have defined the problem clearly. To me the solution is pretty clear...you route
- John Pike: The main problem facing independent publishers is Google, which is lowering the page rankings of
- Grovo How To Do SEO Video Series – ReadWriteWeb | SEO Facts: [...] has built sites for some major retailers and teaches SEO at New York University,
- Video: “Build an SEO Foundation” Excerpt – ADOTAS | Best Electronics Reviews: [...] Video: “Build an SEO Foundation” Excerpt – ADOTAS « Santorum Delivers
