Broadcom Says SEC Probing Its Accounting


Irvine chip maker Broadcom, which has been no stranger to courtrooms thanks to shareholder lawsuits, complaints that caused one co-founder to step away as owner of his NHL team and a scandalous divorce involving the other co-founder and his love dungeon, may be back in legal hot water.

The company says it's under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission over accounting practices. 
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Business Week has the scoop.

The company received a request for documents from
the Los Angeles regional office of the SEC concerning its accounting
for litigation-related reserves, Broadcom said today in a regulatory
filing. The investigation was probably prompted by allegations from a
former employee, Broadcom said.

“In response to these allegations, the company,
with oversight from the audit committee of the board of directors,
completed an internal review of these allegations with the assistance of
independent outside counsel and did not identify any improprieties,”
Broadcom said in the filing.

The company saw no need to revise its financial
statements following its investigation and will cooperate with the SEC's
investigation, it said.

The maker of chips that help mobile devices connect to the Internet was founded in 1991 by Henry Samueli, who owns the Anaheim Ducks, and Henry T. Nicholas III, the subject of that nasty divorce. The company had a long string of legal entanglements with Qualcomm of San Diego. Samueli eventually returned to Broadcom as chief technical officer, but former president and CEO Nicholas retired in 2003.

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