CHICAGO, Feb. 15 (UPI) -- Christopher Milliken has resigned as president and CEO of Illinois-based OfficeMax Inc. amid a growing investigation of earnings and accounting problems.
The nation's No. 3 office supplies retailer after Staples and Office Depot announced it overstated 2004 earnings by $4 million to $6 million and would have to redo most 2004 financial reports.
Two OfficeMax employees accused of falsifying documents relating to $3.3 million in billings in 2003 and 2004 were fired, bringing the number of workers dismised in the accounting scandal to six.
Milliken spent 27 years at Itasca, Ill.-based OfficeMax and its predecessor the Boise Cascade Corp., which bought OfficeMax for $1.1 billion in July 2003. Executive board chairman George Harad will serve as interim chief executive officer.
An OfficeMax spokesman told the Chicago Tribune Milliken resigned due to his "overall performance to date."
OfficeMax has nearly 40,000 employees and 950 stores.
