S.E.C.
ORG
S.E.C.
Four auditors from KPMG who were involved in its audits of the Xerox Corporation settled suits with the Securities and Exchange Commission, with two of them agreeing to pay the largest fines ever levied by the commission against individual auditors. The fines are insignificant about the total of about $55 million already assessed in penalties, which the S.E.C. said allowed Xerox to engage in fraudulent manipulations of leases for its equipment, inflating profits. The settlements brought an end to one of the most contentious fights between the S.E.C. and an auditing firm. Four auditors from KPMG who were involved in its audits of the Xerox Corporation settled suits yesterday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, with two of them agreeing to pay the largest fines ever levied by the commission against individual auditors. The fines are insignificant in relation to the total of about $55 million already assessed in penalties as a result of the audits, which, according to the S.E.C., allowed Xerox to engage in fraudulent manipulations of leases for its equipment, inflating profits. The commission's director of enforcement, Linda Chatman Thomsen, said this case represents the S.E.C.'s willingness to litigate important accounting fraud allegations against major accounting firms and their audit partners, even where the accounting was complex.