Earlier this month, a jury found Brian Adley, former chairman, CEO, and controlling shareholder of defunct Chancellor Corporation liable for creating false accounting documents. Chancellor was a transportation equipment leasing company in Boston.
The jury found that from 1998 through 2000, Adley used false accounting documents inflate the company’s assets and revenues. The company also improperly paid about $1 million in fees to another company Adley controlled, and those fees improperly funneled money out of Chancellor.
The SEC’s complaint in the case alleged that Adley directed the fabrication of documents that were given to the auditors, and that he directed the filing of false financial statements with the SEC. He was ultimately found responsible for the antifraud and record-keeping provisions of federal securities laws, for making false statements to Chancellor’s accountants, and for aiding and abetting Chancellor’s reporting and recordkeeping provisions of the securities laws.
