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Technology Stocks : Silicon Graphics, Inc. (SGI) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Don Green who wrote (10673)	12/30/2002 3:48:39 PM
From: Don Green	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 14451

SGI Settles Criminal Charges from '96 Sale, Silicon Graphics to Pay $1 Million to Settle Export Charges 12/20 San Jose, California, Dec. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Silicon Graphics Inc. said it will pay a $1 million fine to settle charges it sold computer equipment to a Russian nuclear laboratory without obtaining a license from the U.S. Department of Commerce. The computer-maker on two occasions failed to get an export license to ship computer equipment and upgrades, according to a criminal complaint filed today in U.S. District Court in San Jose, California. Silicon Graphics gets about 35 percent of its revenue from U.S. military-related spending, up from 20 percent two years ago. The company has struggled to return to profitability, having posted losses in eight of the last 10 quarters. Sandra Escher, the general counsel for Silicon Graphics, said the incident stemmed from miscommunication between the company's Moscow office and its Mountain View, California, headquarters. The statute requires companies exporting goods to ``non- civil'' agencies to apply for a license, Escher said. ``At the time, the Moscow office knew, but it did not get communicated to the office in California.'' Assistant U.S. Attorney Matt Jacobs said the office had no immediate comment on the settlement. The company is charged with two counts of violating the Export Administration Act, which expired in 1994. Export controls under the act have been extended. The settlement is subject to court approval. Silicon Graphics sold the equipment in September and December of 1996 to Chelyabinsk-70, described in court papers as a ``nuclear laboratory operated by Russia's Ministry of Atomic Energy.'' The laboratory in Snezhinsk, Russia was using the equipment for environmental research, Escher said. Shares of Silicon Graphics were unchanged at $1.26 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. They've fallen 40 percent this year.