The year 2000 brought many accounting scandals to surface. This is one of many scandals.
Chairman Michael J. Saylor, Chief Operating Officer Sanjeev K. Bansal, and Mark Lynch, Chief Financial Officer were fined $350,000 each in penalties and paid a total $1.7 million to shareholders for the recording of profits when the company was losing money. Furthermore, $8.3 million was paid to shareholders to settle civil charges. Along with the payment of penalties and money to the shareholders, Microstrategy agreed to appoint an independent director who is responsible for reporting to the SEC of any violations of changes that Microstrategy is not upholding.
Pricewaterhouse Cooper's auditors have a possibility of charges brought against them because of the approval Microstrategy's false increase in profits. This approval resulted in restatement of Microstrategy's true earnings.
