Ex-Coke execs allege overstatements

Three former Coca-Cola Co. officials told U.S. investigators they witnessed the firm overstating financial results in recent years by shipping excess beverage concentrate to Japanese bottlers, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people close to the matter.

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The Securities and Exchange Commission is probing Coke over accusations raised last year in a wrongful-termination lawsuit by a former employee, Matthew Whitley, who accused the world's largest soft drink maker with inflating earnings.

Investigators have interviewed several current and former Coke managers in recent months about sales and accounting practices related to Japan going back to the 1990s, the Journal said on Friday.

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The paper cited its sources as saying federal investigators have asked current and former Coke officials about a warehouse or third-party vendor in Japan that could have been used to facilitate "channel-stuffing" by storing excess beverage ingredients that Coke sold but still had not delivered to bottlers.

Coke representatives were unable to immediately be reached for comment.