John F. "Pete" Oliver, et al.
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C.
Litigation Release No. 16702 / September 14, 2000
Accounting and Auditing Enforcement Release No. 1301
SEC v. JOHN F. "PETE" OLIVER, et al., No. 98 CV 00075 (DJS) (E.D. Mo.)
SEC OBTAINS SETTLED JUDGMENTS AGAINST FINAL THREE DEFENDANTS IN OLIVER TRANSPORTATION ACCOUNTING FRAUD CASE
The Securities and Exchange Commission has obtained settled final judgments against the remaining three defendants in its accounting fraud case against eight former officers and employees of Oliver Transportation, Inc., a now-defunct trucking company that operated out of Mexico, Missouri. The judgments, recently entered by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, enjoin defendants Willard A. "Tony" Meador, his wife Julie McNabb-Meador, and Patrick M. Jacobi from violating the antifraud provisions of the Securities Act of 1933 (Section 17(a)) and the antifraud and record-falsification provisions of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Section 10(b) and 13(b)(5) and Rules 10b-5 and 13b2-1 thereunder). The Court's judgment against Willard Meador, who was Oliver Transportation's president, further enjoins Meador from violating an Exchange Act rule that prohibits corporate directors and officers from misleading company accountants (Rule 13b2-2), prohibits Meador from acting as an officer or director of any public company, and orders Meador to disgorge, with interest, $64,140 in illicit proceeds he received from his participation in the fraud. Based on the demonstrated inability of all three defendants to pay, the Court did not impose civil penalties on any of them and waived Meador's disgorgement obligation. All three defendants consented to entry of the judgments without admitting or denying the allegations of the Commission's complaint.
The Commission's complaint, filed on December 16, 1998, alleged that from June 1993 through August 1995, the defendants unlawfully inflated the financial results of Oliver Transportation by fabricating customer orders for trucking services and recording phony accounts receivable that were reported in financial statements included in public filings and statements made by Oliver Transportation. According to the complaint, nearly half of Oliver Transportation's reported accounts receivable were fictitious by the time the fraud was uncovered in August 1995. When the Commission filed its complaint, five of the eight named defendants settled the case without admitting or denying the Commission's allegations. See Lit. Rel. 16003/AAER 1089 (December 17, 1998). The settlements announced today conclude the litigation of this matter.