Two More Guilty In Take-Two Investigation

Former Take-Two accounting officer Patti Tay and general counsel Kenneth Selterman have both pleaded guilty to falsifying business records in the SEC's formal investigation of the company's stock option practices, following an earlier plea from former chairman and CEO Ryan Brant. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Selterman sentence is expected to include $50,000 in criminal fines and 200 hours of community service, as well as the disgorging of prior Take-Two options. Tay, according to the article, is expected to face no penalty other than the disgorging of $300,000 to the company. Following the company's own internal investigation finding "significant" backdating and other improprieties, a formal SEC investigation saw chairman and CEO Brant singled out and forced to pay $7.3 million in “disgorgement, interest and penalties” at the New York State Supreme Court. The investigation named Brant as one of the figures who went on to "control and dominate the granting process" for options. The SEC found that Brant personally received ten grants of backdated options, worth nearly 2.1 million shares, which were later exercised for millions of dollars. Executives Strauss Zelnick and Ben Feder of the newly elected Take-Two board have continued to stress that following its managerial coup the company is "continuing to press for resolution" with the Manhattan District Attorney and SEC for all its outstanding legal and regulatory issues.