The Commission announced today that on October 30, 2003, a Massachusetts federal judge sentenced William J. Burke, the former chief financial officer of Interspeed, Inc., to three years probation and a $10,000 fine in connection with criminal charges filed against him by the U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts arising from a fraudulent reporting scheme. Burke pleaded guilty on June 25, 2003 to one count of falsification of Interspeed's books and records. During his plea hearing, he admitted concealing information from the company's auditors and structuring a product payment in a way that falsely described the payment's origin. The Honorable George A. O'Toole, Jr., United States District Judge for the District of Massachusetts, ordered that Burke serve the first six months of his probation in community confinement.
The Commission previously filed a related civil injunctive action against Burke and two other former officers of Interspeed, Inc., alleging that they caused Interspeed to engage in a nine million dollar fraud that inflated reported sales between 25% and 93% from January to September 2000. The Commission's litigation is ongoing. In that action, the Commission seeks, among other things, an order permanently barring Burke from acting as officer or director of any public company.
For further information see Litigation Release Nos. 17758 and 18180.