Formal investigation opened

Friday, Aug. 29, 2003 | 9:34 a.m.

NEW YORK -- Penthouse International Inc., the publisher of adult magazine Penthouse, said federal regulators have opened a formal investigation of the company's accounting.

The publisher initially disclosed in June that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission had begun an inquiry into its financial statements for the first quarter of this year and for all of 2002. The SEC notified Penthouse July 23 that it was opening a formal investigation, the company said in a filing released Wednesday.

Regulators are also examining how the company accounted for a website management agreement, as well as auditing services during 2002 and 2003. The company, based in New York and run by Chief Executive Bob Guccione, said it's continuing to cooperate with the investigation.

archive