The "35 day month"[1][2] was the basis of "$2.2 billion in accounting fraud"[3][4][5][6] regarding "events regarding an accounting scandal that started in 2002"[3][7] at Computer Associates.

The company's "books were routinely kept open until revenues exceeded projected goals."[8] Specifics were described as "a scheme to inflate sales and profits by pretending lucrative contracts were signed earlier than, in fact, they had been.[9] To support this violation of law, faxes of contracts were "cleaned up ... by removing time stamps .."[10]

The most immediate impact was that it "cost investors hundreds of millions of dollars,"[8] although unlike the matters of Worldcom and Enron, to which it was compared, "Computer Associates - since renamed CA Inc - did not go bankrupt."[9] An overview by the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania wrote that corporate directors, upon seeing signs of "35-day month ... 'the three-day window ... (and) flash period" "should be especially vigilant."[11]

Named CA personnel edit

Reporting at the time added "other former executives have been indicted or fired;"[6] "several... have pleaded guilty to criminal charges."[9]

References edit

  1. ^ "Hammer Time for Computer Associates". The Washington Post. September 23, 2004. Former CA Executives Charged With Fraud ... Prosecutors referred to one practice as the '35-day month' because ...
  2. ^ W. McCracken (April 13, 2007). "CA, Inc" (PDF). WSJ.com (Wall Street Journal). Given that the facts underlying the 35-Day Month practice at CA had ...
  3. ^ a b "Ex-Leader of Computer Associates Gets 12-Year Sentence and Fine". NYTimes.com (The New York Times). November 3, 2006. ... to 12 years in prison for orchestrating a $2.2 billion accounting fraud at the software company... The four-year investigation of Computer Associates, now CA,
  4. ^ "CA's former CEO gets 12 years in prison in accounting scheme". The Los Angeles Times. November 3, 2006. Sanjay Kumar, the former chief executive of CA Inc., was sentenced to ... in a $2.2-billion accounting fraud at the computer software company
  5. ^ "CEO who led $2.2B fraud scandal released from prison". MyNBC5.com (WPTZ-TV). March 17, 2017. The former chairman and CEO of a New York software company who orchestrated a $2.2 billion accounting fraud is out of ... It now operates as CA Technologies
  6. ^ a b c "Kumar Gets Hard Time". InformationWeek. November 6, 2006. p. 15.
  7. ^ Started in 2002, prosecuted in 2006/"four-year investigation" (NYTimes)
  8. ^ a b c "CA's ex-CEO is indicted on fraud". CNN.com. September 22, 2004.
  9. ^ a b c "Former IT boss jailed for 12 years over '35-day month' scam". independent.co.uk. November 3, 2006. Archived from the original on 2018-10-25.
  10. ^ "CA ex-CEO pleads guilty to fraud". Sydney Morning Herald. April 25, 2006. ... had closed - a practice known within the company as the "35-day month" - and "cleaned up" contracts by removing time stamps from faxes.
  11. ^ "How Serious Was the Fraud at Computer Associates?". ... termed "the 35-day month," "the three-day window" and the "flash period. ... noting that directors should be especially vigilant at such times."
  12. ^ "2 Years in Prison for Ex-Software Executive". The New York Times. January 17, 2007.