Aspen Technology boss faces security fraud charges

THE FORMER chief executive officer of software company Aspen Technology has appeared in court to face securities fraud charges.

Prosecutors claim that David McQuillin, 48, of Sudbury was seeking to impress the board of Aspen as he tried to get the top job at the company.

They claim he fraudulently inflated the company's software revenues between January 2001 and September 2002 in a bid to make himself look good.

It worked, as he became the CEO in October 2002.

McQuillin and unidentified co-conspirators cooked the books by entering side agreements with a customer to control when certain beans would be counted, prosecutors claim. McQuillin is also said to have backdated software sales agreements into earlier financial quarters and provided false information to its auditors.

According to Associated Press, McQuillin became involved in the scheme after it became clear in 2000 that Aspen was not going to meet the estimates of securities analysts.

Among the court documents are letters to an oil company from McQuillin asking if he could include a software license to help Aspen to meet its targets.

McQuillin was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and one count of securities fraud.

If convicted, he could face up to 25 years in prison and more than $5 million in fines.

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