Canadian computer giant Nortel Networks, which has its U.S. base in Richardson just outside of Dallas, announced that a federal grand jury in Dallas has subpoenaed financial documents from the company as part of a criminal investigation. The SEC and Canadian securities regulators are already investigating Nortel in regard to Nortel’s restatements of its earnings dating back to 2000 and an executive bonus program.
Nortel’s announcement refused to comment on whether the subpoenaed documents were linked to the three top Nortel executives — chief executive, Frank A. Dunn; its chief financial officer, Douglas A. Beatty; and its controller, Michael J. Gollogly — who the company fired last month. Nortel’s board fired those executives after the company reported that it earned half as much in 2003 as it initially reported and that it had smaller losses in 2001 and 2002 than it stated in those years. As you might expect, the three former executives have been named as defendants in nearly two dozen investor class-action lawsuits.