Accounting fraud

Corrado Sciolla quits as the fallout from the British phone carrier’s Italian unit spreads.

Gavin Patterson sought to distance himself from an accounting scandal that’s rocked the U.K. phone company, pointing the blame squarely on a few rogue employees and removing the head of European operations.

Allegations of embezzlement at the telecommunications company’s Italian unit follow disclosure of a 530 million-pound writedown.

Seattle-based financial services company agrees to pay a $500,000 penalty to settle charges with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it improperly performed hedge accounting and later took steps to impede potential whistleblowers.

A medical device maker agrees to settles charges brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission that it improperly booked revenue and made improper payments to doctors at government-owned hospitals in Brazil to increase sales.

Kentucky-based wire and cable maker is resolving allegations by the SEC and the Justice Department that it violated internal control requirements and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

In its annual report to Congress, the SEC acknowledged that fiscal year 2016 was historic for fraud tipsters.

The U.K. Serious Fraud Office dropped its case against former Tesco Plc group commercial director Kevin Grace without charges, a sign the prosecutor may be getting close to ending its probe into accounting practices that caused the grocer to overstate its profit by as much as 326 million pounds ($407 million).

The Securities and Exchange Commission said Thursday that its enforcement director, Andrew J. Ceresney, plans to leave the SEC by the end of the year.

An Upstate New York woman has pleaded guilty to embezzling at least $3.1 million from agriculture giant Cargill Inc., the Justice Department announced.