Accounting Fraud

September 27, 2019

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. and its U.S. subsidiary FCA US LLC will pay $40 million to resolve SEC allegations that the automaker provided false and misleading information in press releases and regulatory filings about its monthly new vehicle sales and vehicle sales growth rate.  The SEC found that FCA US inflated new vehicle sales by paying dealers to report fake vehicle sales, but then failing to report those sales at the time.  Instead, Fiat Chrysler kept these sales in a separate database referred to internally as the "cookie jar," which the company would then dip into to report as current sales in a slow month.  SEC

September 23, 2019

Nissan, its former CEO Carlos Ghosn, and former director Greg Kelly have settled fraud charges by agreeing to pay a combined $16.1 million to the SEC.  From 2009 to 2018, Ghosn, Kelly, and subordinates at Nissan allegedly misled U.S. investors by concealing more than $90 million in executive compensation from public disclosure.  At the same time, using Ghosn’s authority to set individual compensation levels, including his own, the co-conspirators changed the calculation of Ghosn’s pension allowance to allow for more than $50 million in additional benefits.  To settle charges, Nissan agreed to pay $15 million, Ghosn agreed to pay $1 million, and Kelly agreed to pay $100,000.  SEC

September 23, 2019

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and PwC partner Brandon Sprankle will collectively pay $7.9 million to resolve SEC claims that they violated PCAOB Rule 3525 and SEC Rules of Practice 102(e) in performing non-audit services for 15 different SEC-registered audit clients.  The SEC found that PwC failed to make required disclosures of the non-audit services, denying the clients of information necessary to assess PwC's independence.  In addition, the SEC found that PwC failed to have adequate internal controls to monitor non-audit services for audit clients.  PwC and Sprankle consented to the order without admitting or denying the SEC findings.  SEC

September 16, 2019

Marvell Technology Group, Ltd. will pay $5.5 million to resolve charges of fraudulent accounting practices in 2015 and 2016.  Marvell allegedly accelerated sales in the fourth quarter of 2015 and first quarter of 2016, pulling those sales into the earlier quarters in order to mask a substantial decline in customer demand and loss of market share and make it appear that they were meeting forecasted revenue and publicly-issued revenue guidance.  The "pull-in" sales, in the amount of $24 million and $64 million, accounted for 5% and 16% of total revenue in the respective quarters.  SEC

June 17, 2019

Audit and accounting firm KPMG LLP will pay a $50 million SEC penalty to resolve charges that the firm revised its audit workpapers in an effort to improve KPMG’s performance in PCAOB inspections planned for the audits in question after wrongfuly obtaining PCAOB lists of inspection targets.  The SEC also found that numerous KPMG audit professionals cheated on internal training exams.  In addition to the penalty, KPMG agreed to undertake specified compliance measures, including the retention of an independent consultant.  Former KPMG officials face individual criminal charges.  SEC

May 3, 2019

New Hampshire-based GT Advanced Technologies, Inc. and its then-CEO Thomas Gutierrez have consented to entry of an order by the SEC finding that they publicly misrepresented the status of an agreement the company had with Apple to supply "sapphire glass" for iPhones, falsely stating that the company expected to hit performance targets under its agreement with Apple, securing funding from Apple and achieving sales projections.  In fact, the company had repeatedly failed to meet Apple's performance milestones and faced liability to repay more than $300 million that Apple had advanced to GT.  GT was also found to have misclassified this Apple debt in its financial reports.  GT later filed for bankruptcy protection.  The parties agreed to cease and desist from further violations, and Gutierrez agreed to pay a $140,000 monetary sanction.  SEC

April 25, 2019

Indianapolis-based trucking company Celadon Group, Inc., has agreed to pay $42.2 million in restitution to shareholders, $7 million of which will be credited to a disgorgement pursuant to agreement with the SEC, to settle allegations of accounting fraud.  Celadon was alleged to have avoided the recognition of $20 million in impairment charges and losses by recording a series of equipment trades as sales at inflated values.  Celadon management is further alleged to have falsely stated to its auditors that the equipment was sold at fair market value. Celadon has entered into a deferred prosecution agreement calling for specific compliance measures and cooperation in ongoing investigation of the accounting fraud.  SEC; DOJ; USAO SD IN

March 11, 2019

Having been charged in January, 2018, the former national managing partner for audit quality at firm KPMG LLP, David Middendorf, was convicted after trial for scheming to acquire and use information from the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (the “PCAOB”) about which KPMG audits the PCAOB would be reviewing in the upcoming year. The PCAOB, which is overseen by the SEC, inspects the largest U.S. accounting firms on an annual basis, choosing a subset of the firm's audits for close inspection. Middendorf and others at KPMG conspired with PCAOB employees including co-defendant Jeffrey Wada, to obtain PCAOB's plans for inspections of KPMG audits, enabling KPMG to analyze and revise audit workpapers in an effort to improve KPMG's performance in PCAOB inspections. USAO SDNY