Coudersport, PA – The questionable accounting at Adelphia Communications may be more extensive than originally believed.
Friday’s Wall Street Journal says there’s evidence that Adelphia kept two sets of books for its capital expenditures, with the set they showed investment analysts making it seem they spent more than they really did on cable system upgrades.
The company also seems to have overstated the number of its cable TV subscribers system-wide by about 10 percent. That number is also used by investors to gauge the strength of the company.
In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission Thursday, Adelphia declared John Rigas and his sons, James, Michael and Timothy, deliberately breached their duties to the company and its shareholders.
"These individuals are no longer entitled to have the expenses... incurred in defending actions against them advanced to them by the company," Adelphia stated.
Adelphia's stock took a pounding on the over-the-counter market Friday. It closed down 36-cents to 30-cents a share.
More than 49 million shares of Adelphia stock traded Friday, the most since Nasdaq de-listed the company Monday. That increase is partially attributed to Weitz & Company, which boosted its stake in Adelphia to 10.7 percent of all shares. Weitz has a number of holdings in the cable television industry.