The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission awarded $22 million to a former Monsanto Co. employee who tipped off the regulator to improper accounting, according to the whistleblower’s attorney.
The whistleblower was a financial executive with Monsanto, which agreed in February to pay $80 million to settle with the SEC in a case tied to reporting of revenue from its weed-killer Roundup, according to Stuart Meissner, the ex-employee’s attorney. Meissner didn’t identify the tipster by name in a statement released Tuesday.
The SEC said in February that Monsanto booked revenue without properly recognizing all of its costs, which caused to company to misstate earnings and led to three accounting and sales executives paying penalties to settle the agency’s claims. The St. Louis-based company, which settled without admitting or denying wrongdoing, had agreed to hire a consultant to examine its accounting controls and policies. – READ MORE
