U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Litigation Release No. 19341 / August 19, 2005
Accounting and Auditing Enforcement
Release No. 2293
Securities and Exchange Commission v. William M. Baker, et al., Civil Action No. 04-12444 DPW (D.Mass. November 18, 2004)
COMMISSION OBTAINS PERMANENT INJUNCTION AND PENALTY AGAINST FORMER GENERAL MANAGER OF BUSINESS UNIT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE TECHNOLOGY COMPANY
The Commission announced today that it had obtained an Order permanently enjoining William Baker, the former General Manager of the 2D Unit of the Acuity CiMatrix division of Robotic Vision Systems, Inc. ("Robotic"), from violating the antifraud and books and records provisions of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Baker consented to the final judgement without admitting or denying the allegations in the Commission's Complaint. The Commission had previously obtained judgments against four former employees of Robotic – former CFO, Frank D. Edwards, former Corporate Controller Laurence D. Cohen, former V.P. of Worldwide Sales Mark A. Tatkow, and Curtis W. Howes.
In its Complaint, the Commission alleged that during its fiscal year 2000, Robotic's ACIM division improperly recorded revenue from approximately 36 purported sales to distributors totaling approximately $4.73 million in order to meet its revenue and sales goals. According to the Complaint, between December 1999 and September 2000, ACIM negotiated numerous purported sales to its distributors and customers which contained non-standard terms that deferred, conditioned or even negated the distributors' obligations to pay for the ACIM products. Recognizing revenue from these transactions was contrary to generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP").
According to the Complaint, Baker negotiated two of the improper transactions with ID Integration, Inc., one of Robotic's distributors. The improper transactions Baker negotiated, coupled with the other consignment transactions, resulted in Robotic materially overstating its revenue by 13.5% and its net income by 2.1% for fiscal year 2000. In his Consent to Final Judgement, Baker, without admitting or denying the allegations in the Complaint, agreed to pay a civil monetary penalty of $20,000, and be permanently enjoined from violating Sections 10(b) and 13(b)(5) of the Exchange Act and Rules 10b-5, 12b-20, 13a-1, and 13a-13 thereunder.
The Commission also previously instituted and settled cease-and-desist proceedings against Robotic, ID Integration, and the President of ID Integration, Gary Moe. In the Orders, which were consented to by Robotic, ID Integration and Moe without admitting or denying the allegations in the Orders, the Commission found that Robotic committed violations of the antifraud and other provisions of the federal securities laws, while ID Integration and Moe caused violations of the antifraud and other provisions of the federal securities laws.
http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/lr19341.htm
