On March 4, 2009, the SEC reached an agreement with Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc., and issued a cease-and-desist order to settle charges that the company fraudulently inflated or otherwise misrepresented its earnings for the fourth quarter of its FY 2003, and each quarter of FY 2004. By its improper accounting, Krispy Kreme avoided lowering its earnings guidance and improperly reported earnings per share (EPS) for that time period earnings per share; these amounts exceeded its previously announced EPS guidance by 1 cent.
The primary transactions described in this case are "round-trip" transactions. In each case, Krispy Kreme paid money to a franchise with the understanding that the franchise would pay the money back to Krispy Kreme in a prearranged manner that would allow the company to record additional pretax income in an amount roughly equal to the funds originally paid to the franchisee.