23.12.2010

Case against former Terex CFO dismissed

A lawsuit filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission against former Terex chief financial officer Joseph Apuzzo has been dismissed in district court.

On Monday judge Alvin Thompson of the U.S. district court of Connecticut dismissed the case against Apuzzo, which alleged that he aided and abetted John Milne and Michael Nolan of United Rentals in a fraudulent accounting scheme involving two sale and leaseback transactions intended to inflate United’s share value by making it appear to be more profitable.

The complaint against Apuzzo, who was Terex CFO from 1999 to 2002, was filed three years ago and alleged that the United used inflated invoices to disguise gains on its transactions, allowing it to overstate financial results in its annual reports for fiscal years 2000 and 2001 and quarterly reports for the periods ending June 30, 2001 and March 31, 2002.

Unlike the former United executives, Apuzzo never faced criminal charges. In 2002 he was became president of Terex Financial Services, departing in 2005. He is currently owner of management consultants JFA Management Group in New York.

Seth Taube, a lawyer representing Apuzzo, said: "We're very pleased with the decision and that the court has confirmed that an officer of one company is not liable for a wrongdoing at another company, unless he actually caused bad acts."

The SEC and Terex reached a settlement last year that concluded the SEC's investigation into the company's transactions with United Rentals.
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