SEC Investigates Grand Theft Auto Publisher
- July 10, 2006 14:25 PM PST
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Take-Two Interactive, publisher of the Grand Theft Auto series, has announced that they are under investigation from the Securities and Exchange Commission for "certain stock option grants" made in the past several years. This is the second on-going investigation of the company.
The "informal non-public investigation" by the SEC will examine stock option grants the company has made since January of 1997. According to Take-Two, the company is already conducting an internal review of the company's stock activity using "independent board members."
The prior investigation of Take-Two concerned their marketing of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas as a Mature-rated game, when it actually contained several hidden sex scenes.
In that investigation, the FTC issued no fine but ruled that the company misled consumers by "representing that [Grand Theft Auto] San Andreas had been rated 'Mature'" and failed to disclose that the game contained "potentially viewable nude female images." The ruling also provided that any future offense by the Take-Two will result in a fine of up to $11,000 per violation.
