Accounting fraud uncovered in US high-tech sector (with pic)
"Previously, Caldwell said, her office waited for the SEC to refer cases for criminal investigation. But now, "we're taking the bull in our own hands," she said.
"The Arthur Andersen study of accounting restatements from 1997 to 2000 showed that 27 percent of the restatements nationwide had been filed in the software and computer industries. About 62 percent of the software companies involved had annual gross revenue of less than US$100 million.
The rise of accounting fraud investigations, specifically related to overstatement of revenue, reflects a serious white-collar crime trend in the high-technology sector in recent years, said Leslie Caldwell, chief of the securities fraud section for the US attorney's office here.
... There are a number of matters under investigation of corporations that cooked their books to meet Wall Street's expectations -- expectations that the companies themselves created," she added. "
She led N. Calif. antiterrorism task force formed after attacks.
One article refers to her as a "computer crime" expert, but I think she was more of a "computer company crime" expert because of her prosecution of dot.com financial fraud.