In October 2003, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) began investigating how Cardinal Health accounted for expected settlements of lawsuits against vitamin manufacturers. The following year, the probe expanded to include Cardinal’s method of classifying its drug-distribution business revenue. As the result of an internal investigation, Cardinal restated its annual and quarterly financial statements for three years. The SEC alleged that, from September 2000 through March 2004, Cardinal engaged in a fraudulent revenue and earnings management scheme, as well as other improper accounting and disclosure practices. In January 2006, Cardinal reached a settlement with the SEC and agreed to pay a $35 million penalty.