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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowA federal jury in Manhattan Friday afternoon found former Brightpoint Inc. manager Timothy Harcharik aided and abetted securities fraud at the company in the late 1990s.
After a four-day civil trial, the jury found against Harcharik on three counts of aiding and abetting. The jury found in his favor on another aiding-and-abetting count and on a count of securities fraud.
The court will decide in the future what penalty to impose, such as a fine or prohibition on serving as a public company officer.
“I definitely got outlawyered,” Harcharik, who represented himself, told IBJ. He said he is considering whether to appeal.
Harcharik served as director of risk management for the company from 1997 to 2002.
The Securities and Exchange Commission had charged that he and former Chief Accounting Officer John Delaney were the architects of a scheme to use a sham insurance policy to hide $11.9 million in losses that should have been reported in 1998.
Delaney settled an SEC case against him in 2003, agreeing to a $100,000 fine.
Harcharik, who had been an independent contractor for the company, had denied doing anything improper. He said he had had no accounting expertise and had no authority over how the company reported the policy on financial statements.
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