Ex-SAExploration Officers Fined, Barred After Accounting Scandal

The SEC has obtained final judgments against two former executives at SAExploration Holdings Inc. for their roles in what the agency has called a $100 million accounting fraud, the Wall Street regulator said Thursday.

Brent N. Whiteley and Michael J. Scott reached a deal in 2021 to resolve an SEC lawsuit alleging they and two other executives falsely inflated the seismic oil field mapper’s revenue and concealed their theft of millions of dollars from the company, according to federal court filings in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York. The SEC’s complaint also alleges that Whiteley separately stole additional company funds through an invoice scheme.

Whiteley, former chief financial officer and general counsel to the Houston-based company, and Scott, former executive vice president of operations, both pleaded guilty in parallel criminal cases. The pair agreed to bars prohibiting them from serving as public company officers or directors. Neither defendant denied the SEC’s allegations, the agency said.

Whiteley will pay a total of $8 million in disgorgement and pre-judgment interest and will also return over $1 million in compensation clawed back by the company, the Securities and Exchange Commission said. He is also suspended from appearing or practicing before the SEC as an attorney or an accountant.

Scott will also pay more than $200,000 in disgorgement and interest.

SAExploration reached a seperate injunction-only settlement with the SEC in 2020.

Houston-based Samy Khalil represented Whiteley. Lankler Siffert & Wohl LLP represented Scott. Neither could be immediately reached for comment.

The case is SEC v. SAExploration Holdings Inc., S.D.N.Y., No. 20-cv-08323, final judgment entered 8/14/24