Home Messages Index
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
Author IndexDate IndexThread Index

[Old] Ballmer Maybe Peronally Involved in Microsoft's Fraud, Evidence Destroyed

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

Sadly, part of the settlement was destruction of evidence. What was Microsoft
so afraid of if it claims to be innocent? it later settled with the SEC, too.

Whistleblower settles after Microsoft SEC fraud claim

,----[ Quote ]
| He claimed to have been forced to resign in 1995 after reporting his 
| suspicions about Microsoft bookkeeping to CFO Mike Brown and COO Bob Herbold. 
| 
| [...]
| 
| But court records of the case show Pancerzewski had claimed he'd been ordered 
| to destroy a consultant's report about potential tax liabilities in Europe, 
| and that he'd found that Microsoft was controlling the level of reported 
| income by switching money back and forth from reserves. Much simplified, this 
| procedure involves putting money into reserves in good times, and 
| transferring it back into reported income when times are hard. It's used to 
| keep earnings apparently growing smoothly, and it is illegal, under SEC
rules.      
`----

http://www.theregister.co.uk/1999/01/09/whistleblower_settles_after_microsoft_sec/

Steve Ballmer was personally involved.

Unauthorized biography of Steve Ballmer turns up little new

,----[ Quote ]
| A lengthy anecdote about accounting irregularities exposed by whistleblower 
| Charles Pancerzewski concludes weakly, "Microsoft paid over $4 million to 
| make Pancerzewski go away, an amount that presumably wouldn't be paid out 
| without the Office of the President, the trio to which Ballmer belonged, 
| signing off on it."    
`----

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/86841_ballmer13.shtml

Microsoft's Accounting Under Scrutiny

,----[ Quote ]
| The company has still not made enough information public to provide analysts 
| with detailed information on the profitability of its MSN Internet business, 
| Mr. Galvin said, adding, ''There's still room for them to obfuscate.''  
`----

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A03E1DC173DF932A35754C0A96F958260
                
Microsoft - Undeserving of Libertarian Praise

,----[ Quote ]
| One strategy that Microsoft has employed in the past is paying for the 
| silence of people and companies. Charles Pancerzewski, formerly Microsoft's 
| chief auditor, became aware of Microsoft's practice of carrying earnings from 
| one accounting period into another, known as "managing earnings". This 
| practice smoothes reported revenue streams, increases share value, and 
| misleads employees and shareholders. In addition to being unethical, it's 
| also illegal under U.S. Securities Law and violates Generally Accepted 
| Accounting Practices (Fink). Mr. Pancerzewski claims he was forced to retire, 
| for raising the issue of deferred earnings with Microsoft executives, thereby 
| making plausible deniability more difficult for said executives. He has since 
| sued Microsoft, who responded by settling out of court, but also sealing the 
| records to prevent public disclosure (Fink).           
`----

http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2002/8/20/11034/3908

They also settled with the SEC, which confirms bad behaviour:

Microsoft Agrees To Refrain From Accounting Violations in SEC Settlement

,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft has agreed to refrain from accounting violations to settle federal 
| regulators' allegations that it misrepresented its financial performance, the 
| government announced Monday.  
| 
| Under a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the software 
| giant neither admitted to nor denied wrongdoing. No fine was imposed. 
| 
| The SEC alleged that Microsoft's accounting practices from July 1994 through 
| June 1998 caused its income to be substantially misstated. 
`----

http://www.crn.com/it-channel/18819490

"Microsoft Tax," MSN Enters the Black Hole, New Names for NT

,----[ Quote ]
| The lawsuit, filed last year by Mukilteo City Councilman Charles 
| Pancerzewski, alleges that he was forced to resign as Microsoft's general 
| auditor in January 1996 after working for the company's internal auditing 
| department for more than four years. The suit claims that a "significantly 
| younger man" with little auditing experience was picked to replace 
| Pancerzewski, who was finally forced out because he discovered Microsoft 
| might have been violating government regulations. Once Pancerzewski left the 
| company he was replaced by the younger man, who his attorneys believe 
| was "less prone to raise issues of possible legal improprieties which could 
| threaten or embarrass Microsoft or its management.         
`----

http://www.msboycott.com/news/98_06_22.shtml

Now they have a paperboy as a CFO. He can claim to be naive.

SEC Investigating Microsoft Practices -- Earnings Manipulated, Former Employee
Contends

,----[  Quote]
| "The CFO to whom Charlie was reporting his concerns about illegality was the 
| biggest advocate for the very illegality that was going on," Vial argued in 
| court a year ago.  
`----

http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19990701&slug=2969514
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.9 (GNU/Linux)

iEYEARECAAYFAki6i1EACgkQU4xAY3RXLo6hiACeKYJcAPQRAnogXGQ6+L2Q5ElQ
wYgAoK2MNgxHx67p5ZeFxvAIU5KvvbfJ
=6FKu
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
Author IndexDate IndexThread Index