EMC the next Enron? This dude best be careful, otherwise his Mercedes may be found on a median strip somewhere with his lifeless remains rotting inside!
cbs.marketwatch.com
SEC speaks with ex-EMC executive
By Ted Griffith, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 4:43 PM ET Feb. 12, 2002
HOPKINTON, Mass. (CBS.MW) -- A former EMC Corp. executive claimed in a court deposition that the company improperly recognized revenue and violated business contracts, according to a report in the Boston Globe.
The former employee, who is in the midst of litigation with EMC, has been interviewed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, according to the report.
EMC spokesman Mark Fredrickson said Tuesday that the allegations have "no merit" and that they were raised as part of a strategy by the former executive to discredit EMC.
EMC has sued Kenneth Todd Gresham, a former vice president, alleging he violated a noncompete agreement when he left EMC to join privately held Eurologic Systems.
"He is only bringing these allegations in the context of unrelated litigation," Fredrickson said. "Gresham and his counsel have entered this into the public record in an effort to draw news media attention to these irresponsible allegations."
Gresham claims that EMC improperly booked revenue from Unisys Corp. and inappropriately handled contracts with Fujitsu Siemens, two resellers of EMC-data-storage equipment, according to the Globe report.
Corporate accounting has come under increased scrutiny in the wake of the collapse of energy trader Enron, which used questionable partnership arrangements to distort the amount of debt the company was carrying.
Fredrickson said Gresham never raised these concerns with senior EMC management while he was employed at the company, which is the leading maker of hardware and software for computer data storage.
Fredrickson said the company has not been told it's under a formal SEC investigation. He said the company readily agreed to the SEC's request to speak with Gresham because "we have nothing to hide." The SEC sought EMC's consent to speak with Gresham because he is under a court-imposed confidentiality order, Fredrickson said. |
