Barrett Business Services settles accounting fraud charges: SEC

(Reuters) — The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said Thursday that Barrett Business Services Inc. and the company’s former controller, Mark Cannon, have agreed to settle civil charges of accounting fraud involving workers compensation.

Criminal charges were filed against the company’s former chief financial officer, James Miller, by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington, the SEC said in a statement.

Without admitting or denying the SEC’s findings, Vancouver, Washington-based BBSI agreed to pay a $1.5 million civil penalty, the statement said.

A lawyer for Mr. Miller, Janet Hoffman, said her client intends to plead not guilty and intends to vigorously defend himself against the charges.

Mr. Cannon, agreed to settle civil charges for his role in improperly approving some of Miller’s accounting entries, the SEC said. Mr. Cannon settled the charges without admitting or denying the findings and agreed to pay a $20,000 penalty, it said.

As a result of Miller’s actions, BBSI underreported approximately $12 million in workers compensation expenses in 2013, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement.

Mr. Miller, 54, was due to appear in U.S. District Court in Tacoma, Washington, later on Thursday, the statement said. He served as BBSI’s CFO from 2008 to 2016, when he was fired after disclosing to the company the falsified entries, it said.

BBSI did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Reuters could not immediately identify contact details for Mr. Cannon.