SEC charges smart-window maker View, ex-CFO over accounting fraud

View

03/07/2023 15:24

By Jonathan Stempel
       July 3 (Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) on Monday charged View Inc  VIEW.O  and a
former chief financial officer for understating the costs of
replacing defective "smart" windows, leading to a restatement.
    View won't have to pay a fine because it reported the error,
took remedial action and cooperated with the SEC. It did not
admit or deny wrongdoing.
    Former CFO Vidul Prakash, 55, was charged in San Francisco
federal court with negligence-based fraud, disclosure and books
and records violations between Dec. 2020 and May 2021.
    View is based in Milpitas, California, and went public
through a $1.6 billion merger in March 2021 with a Cantor
Fitzgerald-backed special-purpose acquisition company.
    The case arose from a defective sealing component in View's
smart windows, whose panes adjust the tint in response to the
sun, and which are often used in office buildings.
    According to the SEC, View disclosed $22 million to $25
million of liabilities, largely for manufacturing replacement
windows, but should have disclosed $48 million to $53 million of
liabilities, incorporating shipping and installation costs.
    The SEC said Prakash was told multiple times that View would
pay for shipping and installation, but failed to have staff
assess whether the costs were probable and could be reasonably
estimated, which would require disclosure.
    In Nov. 2021, View said it would restate more than two years
of financials, and replaced Prakash as CFO.
    View, Prakash and their respective lawyers did not
immediately respond to requests for comment.
    The share price of View has fallen 99% since the SPAC merger
closed. In Monday morning trading, the shares were little
changed at 12 cents. 
    The company asked shareholders last month to approve a
reverse stock split.
    

 (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Devika
Syamnath)
 ((jon.stempel@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646 223 6317; Reuters
Messaging: jon.stempel.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))