AOL Time Warner Inc. said Wednesday that the Justice Department is looking into its accounting practices, raising the possibility of a criminal case against the world's largest media company. AOL Time Warner did not detail the Justice Department probe and agency officials declined comment. Securities regulators are already investigating the company's bookkeeping.
The inquiry comes amid a backdrop of deepening mistrust of corporate accounting as scandal after scandal has shaken investors' confidence. President Bush, whose own actions as a corporate executive have been questioned, signed a bill cracking down on corporate fraud into law Tuesday but was immediately criticized for interpreting the law in a way that appeared to weaken it.
The involvement of the Justice Department in the AOL Time Warner probe raises the possibility that the investigation could move beyond a civil securities case and into a criminal proceeding, which would be far more serious for company. The investigation was first reported by USA Today.
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