According to an article on NOLA.com, the former CFO of Orthodontic Centers of America (OCA), Bartholomew Palmisano Jr., has been charged by federal authorities with making false statements to accountants and auditors, and with falsifying corporate books and records. OCA was a publicly traded company formerly based in Metairie, La.
Palmisano is accused of artificially inflating the company’s value during his tenure as CFO from 1998 to 2001 and CEO from 2001 to 2005. He allegedly entered more than a dozen false credits and assets into the accounting system, increasing the company’s value by tens of millions of dollars.
When questioned about the entries, Palmisano allegedly lied to accountants and auditors and attempted to retroactively conceal the entries in the bookkeeping software, according to the bill of information released by the US Attorney. Palmisano is accused of changing the names of the entries to make it look like they had been entered by another employee who had since died.
If convicted, Palmisano faces a maximum penalty of 20 years imprisonment, 3 years of supervised release, and a $5 million fine for each count.
