Former CEO of Delphi Fights Fraud Charges

The Securities and Exchange Commission filed civil fraud charges Monday against the former chief executive and former chief financial officer of Delphi Corp., accusing them of participating in schemes from 2000 to 2004 that misstated the auto-parts provider's financial condition.

J.T. Battenberg III, the former CEO, and Alan Dawes, the former chief financial officer, were among 13 people charged with fraud or aiding and abetting Delphi's violations. Mr. Dawes has agreed to pay about $687,000 to settle with the SEC without admitting or denying wrongdoing, regulators said. Mr. Battenberg is among seven individuals who are fighting the charges. In total, six people agreed to settle.

Delphi, based in Troy, Mich., last year disclosed that an investigation by the audit committee of its board of directors had uncovered a number of accounting problems, including improperly accounting for $237 million in cash payments for warranty claims to General Motors Corp., its former parent. The company also revealed millions of dollars of off-balance-sheet debt that hadn't previously been disclosed.

Delphi was charged on Monday with engaging in multiple schemes that misstated its financial conditions, and it settled with the SEC without admitting or denying wrongdoing. It wasn't fined.

"We have cooperated fully with the commission's investigation and will continue to do so. We are pleased to put the SEC investigation behind us and consider this settlement an important step in our transformation process," the Delphi chairman and CEO, Robert S. "Steve" Miller, said in a press release.

The attorneys for the former Delphi executives were not immediately available for comment.