70-Month Prison Term for Former CFO

The former CFO of Safety-Kleen Corp. received a 70-month prison term for his role in an accounting fraud at the company.  According to a press release (here) issued by the U.S. Attorney's Office, the defendant "was indicted by a federal grand jury in December 2002 on charges relating to a scheme to manipulate Safety-Kleen’s financial statements in connection with the reporting of more than $250 million in 'adjustments to Safety-Kleen’s books and records in 1998, 1999 and 2000. It was alleged in the Indictment that the fraud was part of an attempt to meet earnings targets the Company had predicted at the time Safety-Kleen was acquired by Rollins Environmental Services, Inc. in 1998."  The defendant pleaded guilty to conspiracy, securities fraud, bank fraud, and false statements to the SEC charges, and the accounting fraud included capitalizing the value of gasoline in company trucks in order to inflate earnings in advance of the merger. (ph)