AOL facing Justice Department probe

12 April 2012

US Justice Department officials are probing the accounting practices at AOL Time Warner's internet business America Online. The group, which is already facing an inquiry from the Securities and Exchange Commission, said it would cooperate but that its accounting was appropriate.

America Online is said to have boosted advertisement sales through a series of unconventional deals from 2000 to 2002 - before and after its merger with Time Warner.

'In the current environment, when anyone raises a question about accounting, it's not surprising that the relevant government agencies will want to look into the facts,' the company said. 'As we said last week, we are cooperating 100% with the SEC, and we will cooperate with the Department of Justice as well.'

The probe from the Justice Department comes at an especially difficult time for AOL Time Warner. The world's largest media company is in the midst of management turmoil and earlier this month ousted its second most senior executive, former America Online chief Robert Pittman.

Pittman was in charge of America Online as it grew into the nation's largest internet company, and it is that period that investigators are focusing on.

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