Diebold Inc. (DBD) has paid $25 million to settle Securities and
Exchange Commission charges that the company engaged in a
fraudulent accounting scheme to inflate earnings, the agency said
in a statement.
The settlement relates to an inquiry the agency took place over
the last several years, and the company took a charge related to it
in the first quarter, Diebold said in a separate statement. The
maker of ATMs and electronic security products neither admitted nor
denied the charges in agreeing to the payment.
"We are pleased that the settlement with the SEC is final,"
president and chief executive Thomas W. Swidarski said.
Separately, the SEC filed an enforcement action against former
chief executive Walden O'Dell seeking reimbursements of benefits he
received.
O'Dell has agreed to reimburse the company $470,016 in cash
bonuses, 30,000 shares of Diebold stock and stock options for
85,000 shares under a section of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act depriving
executives of certain compensation received when the company misled
investors.
The agency's case against former chief financial officers
Gregory Geswein and Kevin Krakora and director of corporate
accounting Sandra Miller is ongoing.
Diebold's shares were down 0.8% to $27.98 in recent trading.
-By Matt Jarzemsky; Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2240,
matthew.jarzemsky@dowjones.com