By ,
Published January 13, 2015
Xerox Corp. is the latest in a line of U.S. companies accused of tricky accounting that has shaken to the bone trust in Corporate America.
Following are some of the companies under investigation for allegations over accounting irregularities, bogus trading or misleading investors with biased stock picks.
-- Xerox (XRX) Friday said it would restate five years of results to reclassify more than $6 billion in revenues. In April, the company settled charges that it used "accounting tricks" to defraud investors and inflate stock picks.
-- WorldCom Inc. (WCOM), a telecommunications company, on Tuesday said it hid $3.85 billion in expenses, allowing it to post net income of $1.38 billion in 2001, instead of a loss. The company fired its chief financial officer, and on Friday began cutting 17,000 jobs, over 20 percent of its work force.
-- ImClone Systems Inc. (IMCL), a biotechnology company, is under investigation by a congressional committee seeking to find out if it correctly informed investors that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had declined to accept for review its experimental cancer drug. Samuel Waksal, former chief executive of ImClone, was arrested June 12 on insider trading charges.
-- Enron Corp., once the nation's largest energy trader, collapsed into the largest-ever U.S. bankruptcy on Dec. 2 amid an investigation surrounding off-the-book partnerships that were allegedly used to hide debt and inflate profits.
-- Andersen, the accounting firm that audited Enron, was found guilty on June 15 in federal court for obstructing justice in the government's investigation of Enron. The judge has set sentencing for Oct. 11.
-- Dynegy Inc. (DYN), an energy trader that tried to merge with Enron, is the target of several federal probes into alleged sham trades aimed at artificially pumping up revenue and volume. Dynegy's longtime chief executive, Chuck Watson, resigned in May, and it has announced a major restructuring.
-- Adelphia Communications Corp. (ADLAE), a cable operator, files for bankruptcy on Tuesday. The company is under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and two federal grand juries for multibillion dollar, off-balance-sheet loans to its founders, the Rigas family.
-- Tyco International Ltd. (TYC), a conglomerate, is under investigation into whether executives used corporate cash to buy art and a home. Tyco's former chairman, Dennis Kozlowski, resigned June 3, a day before he was indicted for evading about $1 million in sales taxes from art purchases.
-- Merrill Lynch & Co. (MER), the No. 1 U.S. brokerage, in May agreed to pay $100 million to settle a probe by the New York state attorney general into charges it tailored stock research to win investment banking business. In June, it suspended two employee's, including Martha Stewart's broker, after an internal probe related to the sale of ImClone shares.
-- Global Crossing Ltd. (GBLXE), a telecommunications company, faces probes by the SEC and the Federal Bureau of Investigation regarding its accounting practices. Global Crossing allegedly engaged in network capacity swaps with other telecommunications firms to inflate revenue.
-- Computer Associates International Inc. (CA), agreed to a $638,000 penalty in April to settle charges with the Justice Department that it violated pre-merger rules after announcing it would acquire Platinum Technology Inc.
https://www.foxnews.com/story/companies-hit-by-accounting-probes