The SEC has agreed to settle an accounting fraud case against two former Celadon Group Inc. executives – Eric Meek and Bobby Peavler – accused of engaging in a scheme to hide millions in losses before the Indianapolis-based trucking company filed for bankruptcy in 2019. Following a Jan. 30 conference, the two agreed to a settlement with the SEC. (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)
Court documents contain no details about the settlement, and attorneys for Meek and Peavler did not immediately respond to FreightWaves’ request for comment. SEC officials also declined to comment. Magistrate Judge Tim Baker ordered the parties to file a proposed agreement within 60 days. Meek (president/COO) and Peavler (CFO) resigned in 2017 and 2018, respectively. The SEC they had indicted them on Dec. 5, 2019, for allegedly engaging in a fraud scheme to hide truck value losses.
Celadon, the largest U.S. truckload carrier to file bankruptcy, had 2,695 trucks (2,000 in the U.S., 360 in Canada, and 335 in Mexico) and employed approx. 4,000 (including 3,200 drivers). The SEC case was related to an inflated truck sale scheme by Celadon division Quality Cos., which had allegedly hidden tens of millions of dollars in losses. The DOJ’s parallel criminal case against the two men was dismissed in August.
Meek and Peavler were indicted in December 2019 by the DOJ on fraud and false statement charges while working at Celadon. In August, the DOJ removed the nine counts with prejudice, permanently closing the case.
Source: https://www.ttnews.com/articles/two-former-celadon-executives-charged-fraud-scheme
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