ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, April 23, 1997 TAG: 9704230060
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
The now out-of-business technology company hoped to influence a Navy policy concerning its contract, the SEC says.
Two technology company executives have agreed to settle charges by federal regulators of making $20,000 in illegal campaign contributions and selling $3.8 million in securities using false statements.
The two executives of the now-defunct Evergreen Information Technologies Inc. were accused by the Securities and Exchange Commission of making the political contributions in an unsuccessful attempt to influence Navy policy.
The SEC charged Barry C. Nelsen and Ellis J. Tallant with securities fraud and record-keeping violations. Nelsen was Evergreen's founder, president and chief executive, and Tallant was its chief financial officer.
Federal Election Commission records show that lawmakers who received contributions in the fall of 1992 included Reps. John Murtha, D-Pa., Steny Hoyer, D-Md., Joseph McDade, R-Pa., and Vic Fazio, D-Calif., as well as former Rep. Charlie Rose, D-N.C., and John Seymour, an unsuccessful Senate candidate.
Spokesmen for the lawmakers and the Navy had no immediate comment. It could not be immediately determined whether any of the money was returned.
Without admitting or denying the allegations, Nelsen and Tallant agreed to accept court injunctions against future violations. Nelsen also agreed to be barred from becoming an officer or director of any company, and Tallant agreed to pay $20,000 in civil penalties. Monetary penalties for Nelsen were waived because he was unable to pay, the SEC said.
Tallant's attorney, Russell Sherman, didn't immediately return a telephone call seeking comment. Nelsen and Tallant could not be located.
The SEC said Evergreen Information wanted the Navy to provide the data for the company's ``Powertree'' project in a computer-usable digital format rather than on paper, to save it substantial time and money.
As frustrations mounted, Nelsen hired a consultant, whom the SEC did not name, to help the company get the data from the Navy in a digital format. The consultant recommended making campaign contributions - legal ones - to lawmakers running for re-election, the SEC said.
In September 1992, Nelsen asked Evergreen Information employees to write a total of $20,000 in personal checks for $1,000 each. Nelsen instructed the employees to leave the ``payee'' line blank and promised they would be reimbursed in the near future, the SEC alleged.
The checks were given to the lawmakers' campaigns, and Nelsen later reimbursed the employees by writing them company checks, the agency said.
It is fairly unusual for the SEC to participate in a case involving illegal campaign contributions, which normally are the province of the Federal Election Commission. The SEC did so in this case because Evergreen Information's books and records falsely recorded the reimbursements to employees as consulting fees or bonuses.
The SEC also alleged that the company, which was based in McLean, Va., and went out of business in July 1994, sold $3.8 million in an initial public offering in 1992 by filing a registration statement that contained ``material misstatements and omissions.''
LENGTH: Medium: 63 linesby CNB