Former accountant told SEC about the practices
A senior financial analyst who worked for Disney for 18 years says the company materially overstated revenues for years in the parks-and-resorts business segment by exploiting the company's accounting software.
The company said the claims were "utterly without merit"
Kuba's whistleblower filings, which have been reviewed by MarketWatch, outline several ways employees allegedly boosted revenue, including recording fictitious revenue for complimentary golf rounds or for free guest promotions. Another alleged action Kuba described in her SEC filing involved recording revenue for $500 gift cards at their face value even when guests paid a discounted rate of $395.
Kuba has also alleged that employees sometimes recorded revenue twice for gift cards, both when guests bought the gift card and when it was used at a resort.
She said she first alerted the company in 2013 then escalated the concerns in 2016. She contacted the SEC in Aug 2017 and was fired a month later.
Another tip said the company defrauded the government by reclassifying guest revenue from high-sales-tax items such as hotel rooms to lower-taxed items such as food and beverages.
