The Securities and Exchange Commission charged two accountants in connection with auditing the financial statements of bankrupt cable company Adelphia Communications Corp.
William Caswell, a former director of Deloitte & Touche who oversaw the Adelphia work, was barred from appearing or practicing before the SEC as an accountant. Caswell settled without admitting or denying the charges, and can ask for a reinstatement in two years.
The SEC also started filing a cease-and-desist order against Gregory Dearlove, the engagement partner on Deloitte's audit of Adelphia. Dearlove has not settled and a hearing will be scheduled to determine whether Dearlove should be ordered to pay disgorgement, the commission said in a statement.
The SEC said that Caswell and Dearlove knew or should have known that Adelphia's 2000 financial statements had not been prepared in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles.
In April, Deloitte agreed to pay $50 million in a settlement over its role as Adelphia's auditor, while Adelphia paid $715 million under a deal to avoid criminal charges for accounting fraud. Adelphia entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2002 after reports surfaced that the Rigases, the founders of the company, had taken millions out of the company for personal expenses.
