Cognos reassigns new exec after indictment

Cognos this week announced that Andrew Cahill, who was a senior vice president at the company, has been reassigned to other duties at Cognos after being indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice in connection with activities at his previous employer.

Cahill was indicted in connection with activities that led to financial restatements at Peregrine Systems for the period of April 1999 through the end of December 2001, Cognos said.

In the interim, Tony Sirianni, Cognos senior vice president of worldwide operations, will assume Cahill’s duties, Cognos said. Cahill joined Cognos in May. He has held leadership positions at IBM, Candle Software, and Peregrine, said Cognos in a prepared statement.

Cognos could not be reached for comment late on Friday afternoon.

The DOJ on Wednesday announced that a federal grand jury in San Diego had handed up an indictment charging eight former executives of Peregrine, one former outside auditor, and two outside business partners of Peregrine with conspiracy to commit a multi-billion dollar securities fraud involving the company’s performance. Additionally, a former Peregrine sales executive pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice, joining several others who agreed to cooperate in the government’s ongoing investigation.

The indictment alleges that during its IPO in 1997 through 2002, Peregrine reported 17 consecutive quarters of revenue growth that met or exceeded Wall Street analysts’ expectations. In May 2002, the company announced it was conducting an internal investigation into potential misstatements in its prior reports, and then filed for bankruptcy in September 2002, eventually canceling its common stocks leading to the loss of more than $4 billion in shareholder equity.

Peregrine released this prepared statement: “These indictments stem from historical events that took place nearly two and a half years ago, and none of the individuals indicted are current employees of the company,” said John Mutch, who joined Peregrine’s board in April 2003 and was appointed as president and CEO in August 2003. “The company has fully cooperated with the government in its investigations and will continue to do so.”

“In the last two and a half years, we have completed our reorganization, streamlined operations, retained customer loyalty, and accelerated product innovations. Our immediate priorities are to become current on our financial filings, so that all stockholders can have access to the company’s progress, and to build stockholder value by strengthening our leadership in the asset and service management market,” said Mutch.

Among those also named in the indictment were former Peregrine CEO Stephen Parker Gardner and former president and COO Gary Lee Lenz.