Accounting

Comverse Technology Inc.'s former general counsel, William Sorin, was sentenced Thursday to a year and a day in prison for participating in an alleged stock-option backdating scheme with former Chief Executive Jacob "Kobi" Alexander. He is the first person to be sentenced in a nationwide government crackdown on option backdating, his lawyer said. Alexander is fighting extradition from Namibia, where he moved after he was charged. Sorin, 58, agreed in January to pay $3.

Hansen Natural Corp., the Corona-based maker of Monster Energy drinks, said unintentional accounting errors related to stock option grants over a 5 1/2 -year period led to a $1-million understatement in compensation costs. The company said it found 12 improperly dated option grants, seven grants that were given at the opening price of Hansen's stock instead of the closing price, and two other grants that were wrongly accounted for.

General Motors Corp. said Thursday that U.S. securities regulators were reviewing the automaker's accounting for foreign exchange and commodity derivatives and said a similar hedge-related probe into its former finance arm could force it to restate results again. GM also said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it had set its estimated exposure to auto-parts maker Delphi Corp.

New Century Financial Corp. said it probably inflated 2005 net income because of accounting errors and doesn't expect to finish revising the numbers before it shuts down. The mistakes were tied to losses on loan repurchases and the valuation of other mortgage-related assets, the Irvine-based lender said in a regulatory filing Thursday. New Century previously said it would have to restate 2006 results. U.S.

Computer Sciences Corp. said Wednesday that it would book costs of as much as $400 million to correct six years of errors in tax accounting. The mistakes apply to its fiscal years from 2000 to 2006 and are in addition to the $60-million expense for stock options that the company already disclosed, Computer Sciences said in a regulatory filing. Restatements will be made in the 2007 annual report, which the company expects to file by June 13.

Qwest Communications International Inc.'s former chief financial officer agreed to pay $577,000 to settle Securities and Exchange Commission accusations that she helped the company falsely report billions of dollars in revenue. Robin Szeliga, who also served as the Denver-based phone company's vice president of financial planning, will pay a $250,000 fine and also forfeit $226,135 in profit and $100,917 in interest, the SEC said.

Dell Inc. delayed filing its quarterly report for the fourth time, citing an accounting probe by government regulators. A report for its fiscal first quarter ended May 4 will be filed as soon as possible, Round Rock, Texas-based Dell said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The company also hasn't submitted reports for the second, third and fourth quarters of fiscal 2007, which ended Feb. 2. Dell said in March that it found evidence of misconduct and errors in its financial results.

The Securities and Exchange Commission, which plans to drop a requirement that foreign companies reconcile their financial statements with U.S. accounting standards, found discrepancies in how businesses follow international rules. Overseas companies in the same industry sometimes present figures on profit and revenue differently, the agency said in a staff report released Tuesday. The regulator said it also found instances in which disclosures were "missing, unclear or generic."

Joseph Nacchio, the former chief executive of Qwest Communications International Inc. who was forced to resign in a multibillion-dollar accounting scandal, was sentenced Friday to six years in prison for illegally selling $52 million in stock while not telling investors that his telecommunications company faced serious financial risks. Nacchio received a maximum $19-million fine and two years' probation after serving his sentence.

Dell Inc. said Thursday that it fired and reassigned some employees, instituted stricter controls and planned to restate past financial results by as much as $150 million after an internal investigation found the computer maker had manipulated numbers to hit performance targets. The scandal has dogged Dell and cast doubt on its financial reports ever since the company disclosed last year that the Securities and Exchange Commission was investigating its accounting practices.