Vancouver, Washington-based steel pipe manufacturer Northwest Pipe Co. has been accused of additional fraud charges that build on a fraud allegations lawsuit brought against the company in December 2009.
In December 2009, shareholders accused the company of making misleading statements that overstated its profits by anywhere from $37-$47 million.
The new allegations, which were filed in a suit against the company on December 20, 2010 in the US District Court in Tacoma, Washington, accuse the company of deliberately misleading shareholding by manipulating their accounting documents to make unprofitable contracts appear profitable. The company is also accused of forcing plant managers to place orders for steel ahead of when it was actually needed in order to inflate quarterly revenue.