September 22, 2015
Posted January 28, 2016
Retailer Stein Mart Inc. will pay an $800,000 penalty to settle charges of materially misstating its pre-tax income due to improper valuation of inventory subject to price discounts. An SEC investigation found that when Stein Mart offered its merchandise to customers at reduced prices, the value of the inventory subject to the markdowns was reduced at the time the item was sold rather than immediately at the time the markdown was applied. As a result, Stein Mart materially misstated its pre-tax income in certain quarterly filings with the SEC, including an overstatement of almost 30 percent in the first quarter of 2012. SEC
Tagged in: Accounting Fraud, Securities Fraud,