Mounties charge 3 former Nortel execs

TORONTO, June 19 (UPI) -- Three former top executives of Canada's Nortel Networks Corp., were charged near Toronto Thursday by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police with fraud.

Former Chief Executive Officer Frank Dunn, 54, former Chief Financial Officer Douglas Beatty, 53, and former Corporate Controller Michael Gollogly, 49, were charged with fraudulently misstating financial results in 2002 and 2003, as well as fraud affecting public market, falsification of books and documents and false prospectus, the RCMP said.

Each man faces seven counts under three sections of the Criminal Code, the Globe and Mail newspaper said, and defense attorneys were granted a request for a ban on publication of evidence.

The telecommunications company the newspaper described as "once-mighty" issued a statement saying it current management and operations are not a part of the probe.

The accounting issue came to light in 2004, opening a floodgate of criminal investigations and investor lawsuits, the report said.

An Ontario Ministry of the Attorney-General spokesman told the newspaper the next court appearance for the three men was scheduled for Aug. 18 in Newmarket, northeast of Toronto.