Hugo Boss AG (Metzingen, Germany) has announced that profits would fall short of expectations for fiscal 2002 because of “accounting discrepancies” in its U.S. operations. The announcement comes a few days after reports circulated that its two top U.S. executives — ceo Marty Staff and cfo Vincent Ottomanelli — had been placed on paid leave.
Last week, a company spokesperson insisted that Staff and Ottomanelli were “on vacation,” not on any kind of administrative leave.
The accounting discrepancies, discovered during a routine inventory assessment in April, revolved around mistakes in the way the company had accounted for inventory during 2001 in its New York-based office. The German men's fashion designer, manufacturer and retailer said it is currently conducting an investigation into the matter.