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The government awards contracts to companies with histories of misconduct such as contract fraud and environmental, ethics, and labor violations. In the absence of a centralized federal database listing instances of misconduct, the Project On Government Oversight (POGO) is providing such data. We believe that it will lead to improved contracting decisions and public access to information about how the government spends hundreds of billions of taxpayer money each year on goods and services. Report an instance of misconduct »

Dell, Inc.

Accounting Irregularities (Derivative Litigation)

Date: 09/28/2009 (Date of 8-K)

Misconduct Type: Securities

Enforcement Agency: Non-Governmental

Contracting Party: None

Court Type: Civil

Amount: $1,750,000

Disposition: Settlement

Synopsis: In August 2007, Dell announced it would restate four years of financial results (fiscal years 2003-2006 and the first fiscal quarter of 2007) after an internal audit found that senior executives sought accounting adjustments “motivated by the objective of attaining financial targets.” According to Dell, “a number of these adjustments were improper,” and “[t]he investigation found that sometimes business unit personnel did not provide complete information to corporate headquarters and, in a number of instances, purposefully incorrect or incomplete information about these activities was provided to internal or external auditors.” In September 2009, Dell settled a stockholders’ derivative lawsuit by agreeing to pay $1.75 million in legal costs and implement various corporate governance changes. The Securities and Exchange Commission is also investigating the matter (see related Dell pending instance, “Accounting Irregularities.”)