Chemours probe finds accounting manipulation

An internal probe at the chemical maker Chemours has found that top executives, including CEO Mark Newman, gamed the firm's accounting procedures to boost cash flow and thus possibly executive compensation. On Feb. 28, Chemours's Board of Directors announced it put Newman, Chief Financial Officer Jonathan Lock, and Principal Accounting Officer Camela Wisel on administrative leave pending an internal review of "potential material weaknesses in its internal control over financial reporting," a press release states. The company had received an anonymous tip to its ethics hotline. At the time, the board appointed an interim CEO, Denise Dignam, head of the firm's titanium technology business and a more-than-30-year veteran of Chemours and its predecessor, DuPont. The board's Audit Committee, with the assistance of independent counsel, found that the senior managers who were placed on leave tried to delay vendor payments due in the fourth quarter of 2023 to the first quarter