Andrew McKelvey, the former CEO of job listing provider Monster Worldwide, has agreed to pay $275,989.72 to the Securities and Exchange Commission to settle charges of stock options backdating.
McKelvey will be barred from serving as an officer or director of a public company under the settlement, and from violating anti-fraud, reporting and other federal securities laws. He agreed to the settlement without admitting or denying the allegations.
Beginning in 1997, according to the SEC's complaint, McKelvey and two other former company executives backdated stock option grants to coincide with the dates of low closing prices for Monster's stock without recognizing a compensation expense, as required by generally accepted accounting principles.
The SEC said Monster filed misleading 10-K and 10-Q financial statements, causing the company to overstate its aggregate pretax operating income by approximately $339.5 million for fiscal years 1997 through 2005.
McKelvey did not receive the backdated options himself, but he granted the options to four personal employees, including three pilots and a mechanic.
