SEC Charges Take-Two for Stock Options Backdating Scheme
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged video and computer game publisher and distributor Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. for falsifying its reported income over a seven-year period. Take-Two agreed to pay a $3 million penalty to settle the SEC’s charges that the company defrauded investors by granting backdated, undisclosed “in-the-money” stock options to officers, directors, and key employees while failing to record required non-cash charges for option-related compensation expenses. The SEC previously charged Take Two’s former Chief Executive Officer and Chairman Ryan Brant for his alleged role as the architect of the fraudulent options backdating scheme.
April 1, 2009
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged video and computer game publisher and distributor Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. for falsifying its reported income over a seven-year period. Take-Two agreed to pay a $3 million penalty to settle the SEC's charges that the company defrauded investors by granting backdated, undisclosed "in-the-money" stock options to officers, directors, and key employees while failing to record required non-cash charges for option-related compensation expenses. The SEC previously charged Take Two's former Chief Executive Officer and Chairman Ryan Brant for his alleged role as the architect of the fraudulent options backdating scheme.