From Deseret News archives:
ITT Technical Institute discloses SEC investigation
The disclosure, along with Tuesday's filing of a new lawsuit on behalf of ITT shareholders, sent the nationwide chain of technical schools' already battered stock down another 6 percent.
ITT said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that the SEC "has initiated an inquiry into the allegations being investigated" by the Department of Justice.
ITT spokeswoman Nancy Brown said the SEC apparently was observing the Justice probe rather than assigning its own investigators to work separately. The agencies sometimes work in tandem, with Justice investigating criminal matters and the SEC looking into civil violations.
SEC spokesman John Nester said his agency does not discuss ongoing investigations.
Prosecutors leading the investigation from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Houston have not discussed with ITT officials the reasons for the Feb. 25 raids at some of its 70 campuses and at company headquarters in the Indianapolis suburb of Carmel, Brown said.
However, based on the type of records seized, ITT said in Tuesday's filing the Justice Department was investigating alleged falsification of records involving student attendance, grades and graduate job placement.
Such data help determine ITT's qualification for federal education aid. About 68 percent of the company's $523 million in revenue last year came from federal programs, and most ITT students receive tuition aid.
