The filings alleged that company executives fraudulently inflated Internet advertising revenues by $1 billion before AOL merged with Time Warner (NYSE:TWX) in 2000, then the largest corporate merger in U.S. history, the Financial Times reported Tuesday.

In separate lawsuits, four of the eight have agreed to pay $8 million in damages but admitted admitting no wrongdoing, The Times reported.

The other four charged with taking part in the sceme are former chief financial officers John Michael Kelly and Joseph Ripp, head of accounting policy Mark Wovsaniker and Steven Rindner, senior executive in the business affairs unit.

Their attorneys said they did not settle with the SEC because they were not involved in wrongdoing, The Washington Post (NYSE:WPO) said.

AOL Time Warner paid $300 million to settle similar charges in 2005, the Times reported.