SEC Charges Diebold With Fraudulent Accounting

Diebold Inc. (DBD) has paid $25 million to settle Securities and Exchange Commission charges that the company engaged in a fraudulent accounting scheme to inflate earnings, the agency said in a statement.

The settlement relates to an inquiry the agency took place over the last several years, and the company took a charge related to it in the first quarter, Diebold said in a separate statement. The maker of ATMs and electronic security products neither admitted nor denied the charges in agreeing to the payment.

"We are pleased that the settlement with the SEC is final," president and chief executive Thomas W. Swidarski said.

Separately, the SEC filed an enforcement action against former chief executive Walden O'Dell seeking reimbursements of benefits he received.

O'Dell has agreed to reimburse the company $470,016 in cash bonuses, 30,000 shares of Diebold stock and stock options for 85,000 shares under a section of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act depriving executives of certain compensation received when the company misled investors.

The agency's case against former chief financial officers Gregory Geswein and Kevin Krakora and director of corporate accounting Sandra Miller is ongoing.

Diebold's shares were down 0.8% to $27.98 in recent trading.

-By Matt Jarzemsky; Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2240, [e-mail]