Accounting Fraud Back On SEC Radar

Now that cases arising from the financial crisis are largely behind it, the  SEC has returned to “bread-and-butter issues,” according to an article from Jones Day. That means accounting fraud, and the number of such case increased by more than 40 percent from 2013 to 2014. That trend is continuing in 2015, with several new cases being brought over a period of just a few days earlier this month. Notably, in all the recent cases individuals as well as companies have been targeted. Executives at one company were accused of cooking the books to meet analyst expectations and then misleading auditors to justify the numbers, leading to a $15 million settlement and disgorgement for the former company president. In another case, a company was accused of understating the cost of a private jet, golf club memberships and other executive percs by a half million dollars.