SEC slaps Dunlap

How’s this for a movie title: “The Boca Raton Chain Saw Massacre”?

The script would be based, of course, on the life of “Chain Saw Al” Dunlap, a man who earned his nickname by firing thousands of workers during attempts to revive two companies.

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday charged Mr. Dunlap with masterminding a scheme to inflate Boca Raton, Fla.-based Sunbeam Corp.’s earnings during his tenure as chairman of the troubled appliance maker.

In an effort to make itself more attractive to potential suitors, Sunbeam inflated results from the last quarter of 1996 to June 1998, according to a lawsuit filed by the SEC.

The company, which has since restated its results, fraudulently added at least $60 million to its fiscal 1997, the SEC alleges.

Predictably, Mr. Dunlap was buzzing about the SEC’s charges. “The accusations made against me by the SEC are totally false,” he said in a prepared statement.

The regulatory agency seeks to fine Mr. Dunlap and bar him from working as an executive at a public company.