MS faces securities fraud allegations

["Eric M. Bennett" <ericb@pobox.com>]

http://www.seattleweekly.com/features/romano0107/romano0107.shtml

Excerpt:
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THE ALLEGATIONS WERE shocking: For years, Microsoft has systematically
distorted its profit figures in an effort to consistently beat Wall Street
expectations and keep its stock price steadily rising. The false reports
would violate SEC regulations, and amount to outright fraud.

More shocking was the source of the allegations: Microsoft's chief of
internal audits, Charlie Pancerzewski, who reported directly to the
company's chief financial officer.

Most shocking of all was what happened to Pancerzewski when he reported
the suspicious bookkeeping to his supervisors, Microsoft CFO Mike Brown
and chief operating officer Bob Herbold, in the spring of 1995. Soon
afterward, Pancerzewski--who for nearly five years had received stellar
performance evaluations--received his first-ever unsatisfactory one, and
was eventually forced to resign.
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--
Eric Bennett ( http://www.pobox.com/~ericb/ )
Cornell University, Field of Biochemistry, 377 Olin Chemistry Lab

If it's always darkest before the dawn, the folks at Microsoft must expect
the sun to rise any minute.
-Jesse Berst, Ziff-Davis publications