Fraud was alleged Six former Xerox senior executives have agreed to pay $22 million to settle financial fraud charges brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).The SEC filed a civil suit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on Thursday against former Xerox chief executive officers Paul Allaire and G. Richard Thoman, former Chief Financial Officer Barry Romeril and three other former financial executives, the SEC said in a statement.The complaint alleges that the former executives misled investors about Xerox’s earnings so the company could meet or exceed Wall Street’s expectations in a fraudulent scheme that lasted from 1997 to 2000, according to the SEC statement. As a result of the scheme, Xerox accelerated recognition of equipment revenues by about $3 billion and increased earnings before tax by about $1.4 billion during the three-year period, the SEC alleges.In settling the suit, the six defendants neither admit nor deny any of the charges, the SEC said. Xerox, based in Stamford, Connecticut, has a new management team in place.The action against the executives follows after Xerox settled similar charges with the SEC last year for $10 million. The printer and copier maker at the time also said it would restate some of its financials back to 1997, but also neither admitted nor denied the allegations at the time. Technology Industry