MAY 2002 : (SAN DIEGO , CA : PEREGRINE SYSTEMS, INC ANNOUNCES IT HAD OVERSTATED ITS EARNINGS WHILE ARTHUR ANDERSON WAS OVERSEEING ITS BOOKS—See BILL RICHARDSON, ENRON, GLOBAL CROSSING) The story is all too familiar. Several months ago, before WorldCom and in the wake of Enron and Global Crossing, Peregrine Systems, Inc., a lesser-known San Diego-based software company, announced it had overstated its earnings by $100 million — while “independent” accounting firm Arthur Andersen was overseeing the books...
...Consider the Peregrine imbroglio and one of its “outside” board members, New Mexico’s Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill Richardson. Upon the announcement of Peregrine’s misdeeds last May [2002], Bill Clinton’s former energy secretary [Bill Richardson] requested, through a letter to the company, an investigation into the accounting improprieties — a wise political tact and the obvious first move in beginning to distance himself from a company that would soon implode. Mr. Richardson, declaring publicly his concern as an “independent” board member, seemed to clear himself of any Peregrine taint. His letter was covered in New Mexico’s newspapers, and he stated outright, “I had no involvement because I was what was called an outside director.”
..At issue, though, is his use of the term “outside.” Mr. Richardson employed misleading statements in the manner of his former boss Bill Clinton, who, you will remember, stretched the meaning of “is” for political cover. Predictably, Mr. Richardson’s duties entailed much more than those of a casual consultant. He appears to have played a key role in a variety of management issues. According to Peregrine’s SEC filings, he joined the rest of the board in its unanimous decision to retain Arthur Andersen as the company’s auditor. After Andersen was finally junked last April [2002], Mr. Richardson and his fellow board members summarily dismissed Andersen’s replacement, KPMG, nary a month later, after the new auditor disclosed Peregrine’s infamous $100 million in overstated earnings (recently reported to be, in fact, as high as $250 million). ———— “Bill Richardson’s Enron, “ Washington Times ^ | October 1, 2002 | David N. Bossie
Thank you for the additional information, piasa.