|
|
 |
|
 |
可口可乐公司称美政府对其会计调查已经结束 |
|
|
| 可口可乐公司称美政府对其会计调查已经结束 |
|
|
作者：佚名 文章来源：不详 点击数： 更新时间：2006-12-21 16:57:18  |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| ATLANTA - The Justice Department has abruptly ended without taking action its nearly two-year-old criminal investigation of allegations raised in a whistle-blower lawsuit of accounting irregularities at Coca-Cola Co., the world's biggest soft-drink maker said yesterday.
Separately, the Atlanta-based company said it has reached a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission over its business practices in Japan.
The end to the dual investigations closes an embarrassing chapter for the company that was sparked by a 2003 lawsuit filed by former Coke manager Matthew Whitley, who claimed he was fired in retaliation for reporting to senior management allegations of fraud and accounting mistakes.
It was not clear why the Justice Department dropped its investigation, which included grand jury testimony from several current and former Coke executives. Patrick Crosby, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Atlanta, declined to comment. Coke spokesman Ben Deutsch said only that the company received a letter yesterday from the Justice Department saying it was terminating its investigation.
Among other things, Whitley alleged that Coke rigged a marketing test at Burger King restaurants in 2000 and made false or misleading statements or omissions in connection with the reporting of sales volume.
Another facet of the Justice Department investigation involved Coke's relationship with Lancer Corp. of San Antonio. Whitley claimed in his lawsuit that Coke and Lancer hid a slush fund by filing false financial information with the SEC about Lancer's sales of equipment to Coke.
Coke denied most of the allegations, but admitted that some of its officials undermined the Burger King marketing test. It later settled Whitley's lawsuit for $540,000.
In a memo to employees yesterday, Chairman and CEO E. Neville Isdell said that under the settlement with the SEC, Coke has agreed to take unspecified remedial actions in the areas of corporate compliance and disclosure. He said in the memo that the SEC settlement does not include a monetary fine or penalty and added that Coke does not admit or deny wrongdoing.
Extended credit
The company was accused of "gallon pushing" in Japan near the end of each quarter between 1997 and 1999 to meet earnings targets by inducing bottlers to buy extra Coke syrup through extended credit terms.
The SEC, in not levying a penalty, said it took into account several remedial steps the company has taken, including setting up an ethics office and requiring its divisions to certify quarterly that they haven't granted any unusual incentives to bottlers.
The practice contributed about 1 cent to 2 cents to Coca-Cola's quarterly earnings per share and was the difference in 8 out of the 12 quarters from 1997 through 1999 between Coca-Cola meeting and missing analysts' earnings estimates.
"They were basically robbing from their future earnings," SEC lawyer Kit Addleman said. "There would have been no fraud had they made a disclosure of that practice."
Coca-Cola's shares fell 32 cents to $40.97 on the New York Stock Exchange. The shares have fallen 1.6 percent this year compared with a 5.5 percent decline in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index.
Isdell said he is glad the dual investigations are over.
'Continually improve'
"We continue to expect all of our operations around the world to adhere to the highest ethical standards," Isdell said. "The measures identified in this settlement and those we have taken over the past few years are an important step forward in ensuring our systems continually improve. That is an obligation we all share that requires constant vigilance." |
|
|
|
|
| 文章录入：码语者 责任编辑：码语者 |
|
|
| 【字体：小 大】【发表评论】【加入收藏】【告诉好友】【打印此文】【关闭窗口】 |
|
上一篇文章： KPMG 同意支付$22,500，000了断麻烦
下一篇文章： Adobe将按会计规则收购Macromedia公司 |
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 网友评论：（只显示最新10条。评论内容只代表网友观点，与本站立场无关！） |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
