SEC to fine Nortel up to $100 million for shady accounting

Looks like a heartfelt apology just wasn't enough for the SEC -- the agency is expected to fine formerly high-flying communications company Nortel up to $100 million this week for inflating revenue on quarterly reports by an estimated $3.4 billion. The SEC is also suing a handful of former Nortel executives who approved the bogus numbers, allegedly to trigger bonuses for themselves. Nortel just settled several outstanding class-action lawsuits from shareholders for slightly more than $2 billion, so another $100 mil probably seems like a drop in the bucket at this point, but here's hoping this whole sad chapter is over -- we still want to see that MIMO WiMAX rig start shipping.