President of Interpool resigns over accounting problems

President of Interpool resigns over accounting problems    Raoul Witteveen has resigned as president and chief operating officer of Interpool, the large lessor of containers and chassis, after he was found to have authorized transactions that would have improperly increased earnings for the quarter in September 2001.
   Interpool, listed on the New York Stock Exchange, has had to restate its financial statements for 2000 and 2001 and delayed the filing of the company’s annual report and form 10-K for 2002.
   The company is also under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC has requested a copy of a report by Morrison & Foerster, a law firm engaged by Interpool’s board to conduct an inquiry into the accounting problems. Interpool said that it is cooperating fully with the SEC’s investigation.
   “In a matter unrelated to Witteveen’s resignation, the board has accepted the resignation of Mitchell Gordon, the company’s former chief financial officer, as a member of the board,” Interpool added.
   “The audit committee’s investigation by Morrison & Foerster identified certain problems, and we are taking appropriate actions to correct them,” said Martin Tuchman, chairman and chief executive officer.
   The report by the law firm found that Interpool’s senior accounting and financial officers did not allow any gain to be recognized on the transactions authorized by Witteveen, and therefore, the company’s financial statements “did not contain any misstatement as a result of these transactions.”
   Tuchman will assume the duties of chief operating officer and president following the resignation, with immediate effect, of Witteveen.
   Interpool’s auditors, KPMG, have not yet completed their audits of the company’s 2000, 2001 and 2002 financial statements or its review of the company’s 2003 interim quarterly results. Interpool said that the auditors will not finalize their audits “until after they are able to review the final written report by Morrison & Foerster later this month.”