SEC fines Fluor $14.5M over accounting lapses

A Texas-based engineering and construction company agreed to pay $14.5 million to settle allegations by the Securities and Exchange Commission that accounting deficiencies led to restatements on nearly three years of financial statements filed with the SEC.

Fluor Corp. agreed to cease and desist from further violations in reaching settlement, the SEC announced in a press release Wednesday. Five former and current Fluor officers and employees also settled with the agency and will pay penalties ranging from $15,000 to $25,000.

Between 2016 and 2019, Fluor failed to sufficiently maintain internal controls to account for two project bids that used “overly optimistic cost and timing estimates and subsequently experienced cost overruns that worsened over time,” the SEC alleged.